An elected official in Platte County has voiced his opposition to the proposed jail tax set to appear on the August election ballot.
This week, Treasurer Rob Willard issued a press release announcing his concerns about the proposed tax. Willard is the first elected official to publicly oppose the tax.
“I support the principle but not the plan,” Willard said, emphasizing his support for an expanded jail in the release. “Twenty years is too long for a tax like this. If approved, a whole generation of Platte County voters will be denied the right to act as a check on government.”
Willard
In May, Platte County Commissioners placed two ballot measures on the August ballot, funding a plan designed to meet county needs until 2048. The new jail plan features a 320 bed jail expansion as well as the modernization of the 151 bed existing jail. It also gives the county the ability to separate violent from non-violent inmates, features an expanded medical and mental health division, relocates prisoner intake to a new lower level, renovates the “Futures” area into trustee facilities as well as support services such as kitchen and laundry space and adds program rooms for GED and other programs.
The two measures to fund the plans will appear on the Tuesday, Aug. 6 ballot:
Question 1 – Shall Platte County issue its general obligation bonds in the amount not exceed $85 million for the purpose of designing, acquiring, constructing, installing, improving, finishing and equipping an expanded and improved inmate detention center in the county, including without limitation more areas to segregate violent and sexual offenders and to provide expanded mental health care and education of inmates?
Question 2 – Shall Platte County be authorized to impose a countywide sales tax for the purpose of designing, acquiring, constructing, installing, improving, finishing and equipping an expanded and improved inmate detention center in the county, including without limitation the payment of debt service on general obligation bonds issued for such purpose, at a rate of one-half of one percent for a period of 20 years from the date on which the tax is first imposed?
In his release, Willard said recent Platte County tax proposals have ranged from around six years to 10 years.
“A vote every 10 years allows the people to judge whether the government has been a good steward of the money,” Willard said. “If the government has, the public will allow this tax to continue to fund the project and the operation of the jail. If not, the public has the right to take their money back.”
Willard, a former assistant prosecutor under Eric Zahnd, said he supported previous jail expansion proposals and the law enforcement sales tax that failed to pass in 2019.
“I agreed with the members of the 2014 task force that advocated for an expanded jail beyond an additional 70 beds in the “futures” area,” Willard said. “I voted for the 2019 jail tax proposal when Sheriff (Mark) Owen seemingly campaigned by himself and used his own personal money for yard signs. I voted for the law enforcement tax. I will be voting no on the Aug. 6 jail tax proposal.”
Current Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker said he had voted against the 2019 sales tax, but since then has come to better understand the problem and supported the new proposals.
Commissioners and County Administrator Wes Minder presented a jail master plan in May, outlining the history of the jail and population growth trends in Platte County.
Minder summarized the process over the past decade to address the jail overcrowding problem, starting with studies done in 2014 and the first citizen jail committee. Another committee was formed last year, and recommended construction of a multi-story addition housing an additional 312 new beds, to create a facility housing 464 beds in at least 13 pods built in the same general arrangement as the current jail. Expansion of service areas, including the kitchen, laundry, holding areas and attorney-client meeting rooms would also be included.
Late last year, commissioners selected HMN Architects to design the new facility. Founded in 1989, HMN has constructed the Cole County Jail in Jefferson City among others across Missouri. Engineers Henderson Engineers and Walter P. Moore were also selected.
The cells would be in prefabricated units with the shell of the jail built on site and the prebuilt pods lifted into place. The prefabricated cells would allow HVAC and plumbing to be located in an outer hallway, eliminating the safety concerns for maintenance workers in the jail.
Owen pointed out at the May meeting that the current jail poses safety issues for both sheriff’s office staff and general county building maintenance staff. He listed the crimes for which current inmates are incarcerated which range from assaults and larcenies to homicides and sexual crimes involving children.