There are many public needs that go unanswered because there is not enough tax income to go around.

A few of Ray County’s needs include:

• Placing more rock on roads;

• Upgrading rock roads to asphalt;

• Better pay for county employees who are trained in Ray County and then find other employment;

• Adding deputies for road patrols and a second detective to solve crimes;

• Building a storm-safe 911 building;

• Replacing the aging metal shed being used as a jail in Henrietta;

• Creating a justice center occupied by courtrooms, the sheriff’s office, the prosecutor’s office and juvenile justice;

• Maintaining facilities; and

• Updating, replacing and buying equipment, such as emergency radios.

The 911 Board has something others envy – a 1-cent sales tax. The tax generates roughly $2 million per year. With that revenue, the board has been able to grant raises to staff, buy communication equipment for the county’s emergency responders and set aside funds that may lead to constructing a 911 building.

Sheriff Scott Childers has needs, too – the most pressing being the need to replace the glorified shed that serves as the Ray County Jail. But unlike the 911 Board, Childers does not have a sales tax. Instead, he relies partly on the Ray County Commission to fund his budget. The situation is tough because the commission does not have money to fund a new jail or many other needs.

Childers has floated the idea that the 911 Board has more money than needed and could give his office 40% of the 911 tax revenue. He wondered aloud about a redistribution of wealth, taking from “the haves” and giving to the “have nots.” He talked to the Ray County Commission about placing the idea on the August ballot, which raised legal questions. 911 Board member Matt Nolker said the commission has no control over the independent 911 Board’s funding, and he is likely correct.

Whether the public would have gone along with that tax-poaching idea also raised questions. Voters in 2018 gave sales tax money to the 911 Board, and many would side with the board’s building plan for the simple reason that the board needs a storm-safe building.

The idea that either the 911 Board would have to give up some of the tax income, or a new jail would not be built, ignored the fact that there is no need for an either-or scenario. There is another option.

Before getting to that option, everyone should recognize the 911 Board building and jail should be replaced. The problem is, the 911 Board has income to build and Childers does not. Childers’ clearest and best option is to seek a jail sales tax of 3/4 of a cent. The tax would raise about $1.5 million annually. The money could fund a real jail, and the sales tax would remain less than 10 cents, even in the county’s highest sales tax jurisdiction – Richmond.

Instead of continuing to seek a redistribution of wealth from the 911 Board to the Sheriff’s Office, instead of continuing to entertain an “us vs. them” mentality, instead of shrugging off any hope of the public understanding a new jail is needed, Childers and his supporters should begin the hard work of mounting a jail sales tax campaign.

Raising taxes is something Childers does not want. No one does. But the issue is being forced upon him because of the poor decision made years ago to buy and use the shed as a jail; by the ongoing problem of maintenance; by the ongoing threat of lawsuits; by ongoing, slow, deputy response times to calls because the jail is in a bad location; by turnover, because the jail is a poor place to work; and by outdated equipment that makes monitoring inmates difficult.

Childers is right in his reluctance to ask voters for a jail sales tax. As a conservative, that is not something he would do willy-nilly. He knows people work hard for their money. But Childers as an elected official has a responsibility to the public, to his employees and to inmates to provide a safe, secure jail. Seeking a 3/4-cent sales is exactly what is needed to meet that obligation.