Fate of new Cleveland County jail will go to voters
Cleveland County proposition

BY JAMES S. TYREE

Published: November 25, 2008

NORMAN — Of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, Cleveland is one of only three that has never levied a sales tax.

That could change next spring if voters approve a quarter-cent county sales tax to pay for a new jail. The special election date is Dec. 9; the tax would go into effect April 1.

County officials are trying to finance a 542-bed jail to be built south of Franklin Road between U.S. 77 and 24th Avenue NW. Construction would begin in March and is scheduled to be completed about Sept. 1, 2011 — but only if voters approve the countywide tax.

Construction costs are estimated at $40.3 million, but a required sinking fund for bond repayment and reserve fund to cover any cost overrun would push the borrowed amount to near $50 million.

Attorney Glenn Floyd, a bond sales specialist working with the county, said Friday at a special county commissioners meeting that at least three-fourths of sales tax revenue would be used to repay the bond debt.

The remaining sixteenth of a cent could be used for jail operations if needed, but that portion also could be used for debt service.

The tax would end when the debt is retired. The ballot measure gives the county up to 20 years, though county officials say the bonds would be repaid years earlier. Floyd told commissioners the tax could end in about 10 years, given the county’s economic strength.

Assistant District Attorney David Batton, the commissioners’ legal counsel, said a sales tax is preferred because property owners don’t want higher ad valorem taxes, and commerce from county visitors would help pay for the jail.

Floyd said every jail built in Oklahoma since 1982 was financed by a sales tax.

The current jail in downtown Norman has a state-mandated housing capacity of 177 inmates, although the actual numbers have often exceeded 200 people in recent years.

Commissioners say the jail has 0.75 bed per 1,000 county residents, but the national recommendation is three beds per 1,000 residents.

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