RICHMOND – The public will decide whether to pass or fail a ½-cent sales tax to replace the Ray County Jail.

The Ray County Commission voted 2-1 to let the public decide the issue in August.

Sheriff Scott Childers could have requested a ¾-cent tax, but as a conservative Republican, he sought a ½-cent. The tax would raise about $1 million annually for up to 30 years to build the jail. The amount would be cut in half sooner, if grants or other funding sources speed the pace of debt retirement.

After hearing from some audience members who expressed concern the commission did not give people enough notice about the meeting, and having a vote seemed rushed even after weeks of discussion, Presiding Commissioner Bob King opposed putting the issue on the ballot.

“With this pandemic that we’ve been in, there’s been a lot of small businesses hurting. Is the tax going to hurt them or help them at this point? I think it’s going to hurt them,” King said Tuesday. “I really feel like there’s other avenues that we haven’t looked at.”

Citing 40 years of experience as a banker dealing with real estate, King said creating a fully developed plan could take a year. Even so, he did not deny the jail should be replaced.

“These folks do need a jail. We know that,” King said.

Audience member Dan Powers said the plan calls for a 100-bed, $10 million jail.

“I keep hearing that everybody thinks we need a new jail … we just don’t want to pay for it now. But the reality is that ½-cent sales tax, if you go to a grocery store and buy $50 worth of groceries, you’re paying 25 cents in tax,” he said. “It’s not like it’s going to be a heavy burden on the taxpayers.”

In Ray County, Richmond has the highest sales tax rate, at 9.23 cents per dollar. If approved, Richmond’s sales tax would remain under 10 cents, at 9.73 cents. Most Ray communities would pay 7.73 cents if the increase is approved.

“Let the taxpayers decide,” Commissioner Dave Powell said. “We’re not the ones deciding.”

Commissioners Gary Wilhite and Powell voted to let the voters decide the issue. King voted no.

After the meeting, audience member J.D. Pierce said he opposed the issue because too many questions remained unanswered.

“There’s not a case being made for the solution driven by data for the county – crime statistics over the past 10 years, projected income, impacts on communities in Ray County where the sales tax is going to be collected,” he said. “When I’ve asked questions about estimates for the building, what’s appropriate for our crime in this county, where in the conversation (is an answer?) … The national conversation is about policing and how it’s changing. I don’t hear that being incorporated. What I hear is a step back, looking back. So, I’m opposed because there’s no clarification on the proposal. It’s just very general and vague.”

Details, not anecdotal observations, are needed to make the case for a new jail, Pierce said.

“I get that the jail is falling apart. You can see that,” he said.

Undersheriff Steve Mendoza said he and Childers, who could not attend the commission meeting, are glad the public will get the chance to decide the issue.

“It’s in the hands of the voters, which is where it should be,” Mendoza said.

He talked about seeking a ½-cent versus a ¾-cent sales tax.

“There may be some things that we have to cut out,” he said.

For example, 100 beds are wanted, but the reduced amount of money might allow just 75 beds, Mendoza said. The more beds available in a new jail, the more space that can be rented out for use by federal inmates, which can bring in money to cover jail operations, Mendoza said.

“Maybe we can expand using that (federal inmate income) and not have to go back to the taxpayers,” he said.

The idea of putting off a new jail to some future date likely will cost taxpayers more money in the long run, Mendoza said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some consumer costs increased by 400%, largely because of supply chain issues, he said. But even in less traumatic times, year-to-year price increases because of inflation occur regularly.

“We can’t take a chance on prices going back up, because a $10-million jail may end up costing 15,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to have it built as soon as possible.”

A new jail is about safety for staff and inmates, not aesthetics, he said. In addition, being based in Henrietta poses a problem for deputies trying to react to calls in most parts of the county and when they must transport inmates for court appearances in Richmond.

“The facility we’re in right now, the inmates are able to fashion all sorts of weapons just by pulling on the ceiling or by kicking a piece of concrete off a floor,” Mendoza said.

Pulling at the rusting sheet metal ceilings or walls can net an inmate a piece of metal that can be used as a knife.

“It’s very dangerous to any of our corrections officers when any person in there may very well have a weapon, and that’s a very real possibility,” he said.

A jail is not a recreational facility, but the shed-like Ray County Jail is so poorly laid out that hiring and retaining employees is difficult, with low pay adding to a high turnover rate, Mendoza said.

“Our employees make less than someone who wants to go work at McDonald’s and our corrections officers have to put up with quite a lot – they’ve had urine and feces thrown on them. … Or (inmates) want to fight with you every single time you go in there,” he said. “The facility itself is dark, it’s dank. Of course, it’s a jail to begin with, but then, just the atmosphere itself gives people the feeling of being in a cave. From there, that may just make (inmates) more violent. … I’ve gone to facilities where they’re well-lit and the walls are clean.

“I worked at Platte County for 20 years and it was a nice jail. The atmosphere itself already puts someone in a foul mood, aside from the fact they’re in jail and now they can make weapons. …

“Who wants to come and work in an environment where you can be assaulted every single day?”