Jail tax defeated by staggering margin; sewer tax OK'd

Wednesday, August 6, 2003

There'll be no new jail built in Vernon County -- at least not for now. The people of Vernon County have spoken and they do not want a law enforcement sales tax, at this time, but they are in favor of a city sewer tax. Once the votes were tallied, the people heartily rejected the law enforcement tax, with more than 70 percent of them saying no to the the measure. Of the 11,868 active voters in Vernon County only 21 percent, or 2,540, of the voters attended the polls on Tuesday. Of the 27 precincts in the county, not one voted in favor of the proposed tax. County wide the law enforcement tax received 28.42 percent Yes votes and 71.57 percent No. The city of Nevada counted for 34 percent of the vote. Presiding Commissioner Charlie Johnson was very disappointed at the failure of the law enforcement tax. He said that it was too bad that so few voters affected such an important decision. He added that it is very possible that voters will see another jail issue on the ballot in the future. This tax was earmarked to build a new county-city law enforcement building, that was to include a new jail facility, and to finance the installation and upkeep of an enhanced 911 system. The law enforcement facility was going to be located at the corner of Austin and Centennial on a 6 and a half acre parcel. It was to have 98 inmate beds and house the city and county law enforcement administrative of-fices. The E-911 system proposal called for the placement of road signs to provide physical addresses and included a digital mapping of the county and caller identification to let emergency responders know the location and layout of houses they will be responding to. The E-911 system called for 2 dispatchers to be working at all times. However, there was no medical dispatch available in this system. Three public meetings on the law enforcement tax were held in locations throughout the county to inform citizens about the proposal. During the meeting in Nevada on the night of July 31 Johnson said that there was no money budgeted for a county-wide sign system currently, if the tax was not passed money could be earmarked for that in the future. He said that the county would either continue to operate its current jail facility and house the surplus outside of the county, it could close the jail and house all of the inmates in other facilities, or the city could build a regional jail or come up with a new funding plan. After the election Johnson said, "We have to look at the Vernon County jail and make some hard decisions." Northern County Commissioner Neal Gerster was also disappointed at the failing of the law enforcement sales tax. "I think these people think we need a full time prosecutor but we don't need no place to put them," he said.

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