Sales tax increase to fund jail operations headed to ballot

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- The Lawrence County Commission officially voted on Tuesday morning to add a sales tax increase proposal to the ballot.

The proposal comes after news the county received millions in funding to build a new Lawrence County Jail back in November 2021.

Voters will now have to decide at the polls whether to approve or deny a half percent sales tax increase across the county during the May 3rd primary election.

The increase would help fund and maintain the new Lawrence County Jail.

“This is the way we felt was a fair way to assess a new revenue with the sales tax [so] that everyone could pay a fair portion of what the cost of the new jail operation would be,” said Commissioner Dr. Colton Copley.

Copley says if passed, it means one half of a penny from every dollar will go to help offset costs and keep the new jail in business.

“What we have come up with is a back up plan to the plans that have come before us, and this is a real solution,” Dr. Copley said. “This is the closest Lawrence County’s been to having a real solution to the jail crisis that we’ve faced for a long time now.”

Originally built to house 50 inmates, the now 48-year-old county jail is only certified to house 27 offenders.

There is also some confusion about the project, and some residents who live around the Lombard property on Lorain Street, where the new 200-bed jail will be built, are worried what it could mean for them.

“What about public forums, particularly for us in the neighborhood. Is there any plans for that?,” asked Mark Howard during Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’ll be holding lots of informational meetings,” responded Commissioner DeAnna Holliday. “As government, we have no other stream of revenue other than the tax payers.”

Going forward, commissioners hope to get the public behind this new sales tax increase through public forums between now and Election Day.

“This is a generational jail that’s going to sustain the needs for years to come,” Dr. Copley said. “[It’s] not just a jail that’s gonna be built today to just fulfill today’s needs.”

The county has already received a $16.8 million grant from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office. Commissioner Holliday told WSAZ in November 2021 the remaining $14.9 million to foot the bill will come from bonds.

The total cost to build the jail is $31,764,185. Upkeep and operational costs for the jail, commissioners say, would come from revenue from that sales tax increase, if it passes. The total cost to build the jail is $31,764,185.

The overcrowding issue at the jail is something Holliday told WSAZ back in November 2021 the county has spent millions of dollars on for years because when there is no room at the jail, inmates have to be housed outside of the county.

Having a 200-bed jail would allow the county to house inmates for other counties as well.

Holliday says the sales tax increase would bring in $3 million into the county each year.

“This half-percent tax is strictly and forever allocated to the jail operations and cannot ever be used for anything else,” Holliday told WSAZ Tuesday afternoon. “That’s an added confidence that our jail operations will always be sustained.”

Construction is scheduled to start as soon as the sales-tax increase is approved by voters – with hopes of having the new jail ready to go by 2025.

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