Payne County sets election date for jail sales tax

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Voters in Payne County will head to the polls on November 8th to vote on a proposed sales tax to fund construction of a $16-million, 280-bed county jail.<br/><br/>Voters will

Wednesday, September 7th 2005, 5:34 pm

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- Voters in Payne County will head to the polls on November 8th to vote on a proposed sales tax to fund construction of a $16-million, 280-bed county jail.

Voters will be asked to approve a 15-year, one-fourth-penny sales tax to build the jail and permanently extend a one-eighth-penny sales tax to operate it.

The one-eighth-penny tax was approved in 2000 to build a $3.6-million county administrator building, and it is set to expire March 31st, 2010.

Sheriff Carl Hiner says if voters fail to approve the tax, the state jail inspector will file an application with the attorney general to close the jail for noncompliance and overcrowding.