Warren County voters overwhelmingly approved a .75% sales tax referendum to fund a new, modern law enforcement center to replace the county’s outdated jail.
With all precincts reporting, 1,664 voted in favor of the tax increase and 706 voted against it.
The current jail is over a century old and is both structurally deficient and unsafe.
The county formed a Citizens Advisory Committee in 2019 to address the jail situation.
“I think it’s a win for the citizens of Warren County and there’s an awful lot of people to thank for the results tonight,” said Chip Algren, former Warren County State’s Attorney and chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee. “We’re very pleased. This is the culmination of four years of a lot of work."
The county has earmarked $2 million in federal COVID-19 money for the project.
The rest will be funded by the sales tax.
The added sales tax wouldn’t apply to sales of farm equipment, vehicles, basic groceries, prescription and non-prescription drugs, and other medical supplies for diabetics.
For eligible items, the tax would add 75 cents to a $100 purchase.
After three years that would generate $3 million to add to the federal COVID money for a down payment.
Then the proceeds from the sales tax would be used to pay off the remainder of the project, which is expected to be within 20 years.
The referendum itself sunsets the tax increase at 25 years if not terminated earlier.
The tax increase will bump the sales tax rate to 8% for eligible purchases in the county at large and to 10% in the city of Monmouth.
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