Boone County’s half cent sales tax for the Jail

Boone County Government’s website has a summary of the history of this sales tax.  The following are excerpts from that site which is at:  http://www.boonecountyil.org/sites/default/files/pubsafety%20sales%20tax.pdf

First, the actual ballot resolution

Click on the photocopy to enlarge:

The Boone County Board’s 1999 published statement regarding the referendum issue.

Beginning in FY 2004 (12-1-2003 to 11-30-2004) the county began using the sales tax for items related to jail operations but not related to bond repayment.  Note the FY 2001 numbers were only for part of the year.  See below:

For FY 2011, a very large use of Jail sales tax was actually authorized.  See Ordinance 10-35 below. The county proposed very large operational expenses for the sales tax, gradually reducing it until it was projected to stop in 2018 with the final payment on the jail bonds.

The half cent PSB sales tax is budgeted to be $1,358,000 for the current year and is running slightly greater than that projection.  The highest PSB tax receipts was in 2008 when $1,653,891 was received. See below:

The county is currently refinancing the Jail Bonds to obtain a lower interest rate.  Annual principle repayment on the new bonds will range from $530,000 to $575,000 each year. Annual interest on the bond will be less than $150,000 each year and falling. So something approaching $700,000 will be available for PSB related operating expenses.  See draft version of bond repayment schedule shown below:

The major questions are:

 1. Will the county really abide by Ordinance 10-35 or will it use more than stated sales tax revenue for PSB operating expenses?

2.  Will the county really end the sales tax in 2018, if so how will it make up for the loss of income for PSB operating expenses?

Editor’s note:  It may seem that the county is cash rich because its PSB sales tax can so readily pay for its construction bonds.  The reality is quite different.  The county is quite cash strapped and in past years has curtailed levies for highway and bridges and the health departments so has to increase the county’s real estate levy for its general fund and still abide by tax caps.