It looks like Grundy County voters will see a sales tax issue for a new jail on a future ballot, possibly as soon as April.
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It looks like Grundy County voters will see a sales tax issue for a new jail on a future ballot, possibly as soon as April.
The Grundy County Law Enforcement Committee met Tuesday night at the courthouse to regroup following the defeat of a one-half cent sales tax issue for a new jail on the Nov. 5 ballot. While committee members expressed their disappointment that the issue did not pass, there was agreement among members that they were not ready to give up.
One of the first issues to be decided in the meeting was whether or not the current jail should be closed. Grundy County Sheriff Greg Coon said he does not feel the county can afford to close the jail due to the cost of housing prisoners in other counties. Currently, he said, he is paying $250 per day to house eight prisoners in the Livingston County Jail, an amount that does not include the cost of transporting the prisoners back and forth for court appearances. Coon said his current budget for the jail only is about $123,000, but if he was to house Grundy County?s prisoners in other counties, it would balloon to over $215,000.
Phil Daniels, a member of the committee and an officer with the Missouri Department of Probation and Parole, said what happens when a county can?t hold its prisoners and can?t afford to house them in other facilities is that criminals get put back on the street. While they are often put under an electronic monitoring program and intensive supervision, these are criminals who, for the safety of the public, should be in jail, Daniels said.
Committee members discussed reasons they have heard for the defeat of the issue, which included legitimate concerns such as the amount of the tax that would be rolled back and the exact cost of the facility, as well as concerns that were not considered to be legitimate, such as the rumor that Allan Seidel, who serves as co-chairman of the committee, would benefit from the sale of the Jim McCarty property (because it was formerly known as the Nisbeth-Seidel building) as the location for the proposed jail, and the rumor that the jail break on the weekend prior to the election had been staged. Committee members said they cannot control the rumors, but said they were open to suggestions from those with legitimate concerns.
One topic of discussion was whether or not there should be a rollback to three-eighths of a cent or to one-quarter cent on the issue should it be placed on a future ballot. Committee members said they feel that the rollback to one-quarter cent would attract more ?yes? votes, but the rollback to three-eighths of a cent is what is needed to operate a jail. As for cutting the cost of the building, the group said they would look for ways to do that, but feel that any ?extras? had already been cut. There was discussion over the fact that $310,000 of the project may have been included twice in the estimated cost.
As the meeting progressed, members said they would like to see the issue on the April ballot, although it cannot be run as a ?law enforcement tax? again for one year. To be on the April ballot, the issue would have to be worded so that funds generated through the tax would be placed in the county?s General Revenue fund, and then be earmarked for law enforcement by the county commission. Discussion on that issue centered on the sales tax that was passed several years ago for the ambulance department in which commissioners at that time indicated the funds would be used to construct a building to house the ambulance department. It was noted that when the building was not constructed, voters felt they had been lied to, something that could hurt a similar type of sales tax issue for a jail. Presiding Commissioner Kenny Roberts said the current commission would pass a resolution designating the funds for law enforcement only, but it would be up to future commissions to continue earmarking the funds for that purpose. By runing the issue in April, it is hoped the $250,000 Community Development Block Grant would still be available for purchase of property for the jail facility.
Committee members discussed the need to continue working in the small communities and rural areas of the county and are seeking those who have suggestions to join the committee.
The committee is scheduled to meet again at 7 p.m., Monday, Dec. 2 at Trenton City Hall. Anyone interested in the jail project is encouraged to attend the meeting and provide input.