OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Leaders in Del City are campaigning against the sales tax that Oklahoma County voters will weigh Nov. 3 to finish and run the new county jail, a project going up in phases near their city.
The measure would set a 0.4 percent county sales tax for 25 years. Oklahoma County is the lone county among the state’s 77 with no sales tax of its own. The money would cover a funding gap of more than $600 million for the jail and the behavioral health center joined to it, and would raise pay for jail staff.
Del City Mayor Greg Childers said county residents deserve accountability and called the proposal another misused tax increase. Councilwoman Claudia Browne said a new building will not end the deaths that have plagued the jail, and Councilman Scott Tatom faulted the county for not planning for the cost sooner. Former Mayor Floyd Eason, who led a petition drive against the project, argued the current jail could be remodeled for far less than $900 million.
District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan, who brought the tax forward, said the county has no other way to pay to complete the jail. He has warned that the U.S. Department of Justice could step in if the measure fails.
The fight comes four years after voters in 2022 renewed $260 million in property tax bonds for a new jail on a promise of no new taxes. Construction alone could now top $850 million. The current 13-story jail opened in 1991 and has been under federal oversight since 2009. Supporters point to design flaws they say make the tower unsafe for staff and detainees.
Section: More Oklahoma City OK politics news
Filed under: Oklahoma City OK Politics News
