BUCYRUS — The Crawford County Commissioners hosted a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed sales tax levy for the Crawford County Jail.
No citizens wishing to speak attended the second hearing on the issue.
After the hearing, it was decided to place the issue on the May ballot. The issue failed in the previous November election.
The purpose of the one-half percent sales tax is to support “criminal and administrative justice services, specifically the administration and maintenance of the Crawford County Justice Center.”
The issue failed in the November election 8,781 to 5,413.
“It’s been tough,” Crawford County Sheriff Scott Kent said. “We haven’t been able to plan out past June 30.”
The current one-half sales tax, which has been in effect since 1994, ends June 30. If passed, the new tax would begin July 1.
Kent said some cuts already have been made since the issue’s failure in November. One of the items is in the salary line item.
“We have staff that have been lost that I have not been able to replace,” Kent said. “I’m not going to hire someone if I don’t know the end game and I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep them on.”
He said other cuts made include not purchasing any new vehicles for deputies and being unable to perform certain maintenance and repair work to the jail.
Kent previously said, though on paper it is a new tax, Crawford County citizens would not see and increase in their taxes from it. The levy is listed as a new tax and not a renewal or replacement because the 25-year levy from 1994 included construction and the new levy is for operations and maintenance.
Kent added, without the levy funding, more cuts would have to be made to the jail’s operations and could include spending more on sending inmates to other jails. He said it costs approximately $58 to $62 per day to care for each inmate, while it would cost approximately $75 per day to pay another jail to house an inmate.
The county spends more than $218,000 per year on meals for its inmates and more than $270,000 on healthcare for the inmates. Both are state-mandated operating items, but the jail does not receive state funding to carry out the operations.
“It is very important this passes for the county budget,” Crawford County Commissioner Tim Ley said.
The spring election is May 7.
A previous article on the needs of the Crawford County Justice Center may be found here.