Voters in Columbia/Boone County are casting ballots Tuesday on Proposition L, which calls for adding three-eighths-of a cent to the county’s current one-eighth cent law enforcement sales tax to fund a new county jail.
Boone County Sheriff Dwayne Carey notes the word “jail” is not in L’s ballot language, saying there is specific language that must be used. Passage requires a simple majority. Sheriff Carey tells 939 the Eagle that Boone County will spend about $5-million this year housing inmates out-of-county. That does not include overtime for transportation.
Opponents of L say the county should have made the new jail a priority earlier, rather than the childcare center.