The elevators get stuck. The plumbing leaks, and hot water isn't available on some floors. If the big earthquake hits, Salt Lake City's half-century-old public safety building might not withstand the shaking. Those are all reasons why the city needs to build new offices and an emergency operations center for its police and fire departments.

If need were the only question, voters could be counted on to approve a $125 million bond issue for a new public safety complex when they go to the polls Nov. 3. Police and fire protection are basic services, and officers should have a decent place to work.

Besides, if they or their dispatchers are trapped in a substandard building by a bombing or a natural disaster, they won't be available to help the rest of us.

But need isn't the only issue. Looming like a monsoon thunderhead over Proposition 1, as the bond issue will be labeled, is the dismal economy. Job layoffs and investment losses have caused worried Utahns to slash personal spending, count every penny and save every dime they can. Couple that with a series of penny-ante property tax hikes and a whopper of a tax increase for the Legislature's public school equalization fund, and city voters could go to the ballot box in a sour mood about public spending.

Then there was Mayor Ralph Becker's tone-deaf suggestion a couple of months ago that the new public safety complex be built on Library Square. Fortunately, that pratfall is now behind us. The new buildings -- five stories of offices, three stories of emergency operations center -- would be built on the east side of 300 East between 400 South and 500 South.

The bottom line for voters and taxpayers should be this: Despite the unfortunate timing in the business cycle, the bond issue and the project it would finance remain the right things to do.

The costs are significant but reasonable. The probable tax hike on a $260,000 home would be about $75 a year. On a $1 million commercial property, it would be $522.

And though Becker stumbled over the siting question, he has done several other things to make the project better. Most important, he has cut the price tag back from $192 million in 2007 to $125 million.

It's wrong to call the existing public safety building by that name because it isn't safe. It was not designed for security. Victims and suspects can't easily be separated. It's so inefficient that it wastes taxpayers' money on bloated utility bills and reduced worker productivity. It's time to replace it.