Published: May 21, 2008 10:16 am            

County discontinues portion of public safety sales tax

By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — The Jefferson County Board has expired 1/4 percent of the public safety tax.

“Whoever would like to have the tax returned can put it back on with a referendum,” Jefferson County Board Chairman Ted Buck said. “They have until the middle of August to put a referendum on the ballot.”

When the public safety sales tax was approved by voters in 2005, 1/4 was earmarked by the County Board to last 18 years and pay for the bond payments of the Jefferson County Justice Center, and the other 1/4 percent of the tax was earmarked to pay debt owed to Fifth-Third Bank and the County Highway Department — which was set to expire at the end of this year. The expiration of the tax was set to require County Board action.

That action was taken Monday night, and 1/4 percent will expire at the end of the calendar year on Dec. 31.

“We promised to take this off, and we promised to use it for the Fifth-Third loan of $1.5 million and the highway loan, which was $900,000, and have them paid by Dec. 31,” Buck said. “Those loans have been paid just as we promised. During this time there has been a lot of dissension over finances, and people wanting us not to pay those loans and use the money for something else. But we stuck to our guns and got it done.”

In prior months, there have been several ideas proposed for the 1/4 percent tax, including an idea presented by board member and Mt. Vernon Township High School Board member Pat Garrett to use the money for scholarships to Rend Lake College; State’s Attorney Gary Duncan’s request to use the tax money to pay for raises and hiring additional people in county departments; and to use the money for the Jefferson Fire Protection District. Buck said if those groups want to use the sales tax money in that manner, it would take voter approval.

        

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