A new sales tax may be the best way to solve the county's jail and courthouse space issues, according to authorities.
"No matter how you slice it, we'll have to go out for a ballot issue," Presiding County Commissioner Gary Jungermann said during a Monday meeting. "The longer we wait, the worse this situation is going to get."
Representatives from law enforcement, the county, the court system, an investment firm and a banking firm gathered Monday to discuss ongoing problems with county facilities. Issues include a lack of office space at the county courthouse and current sheriff's office, plus structural issues at the jail. (Read more about the problems here: bit.ly/2U2tsds.)
"This isn't just about the jail, it's about all of our criminal justice needs," Callaway County Sheriff Clay Chism said.
Chism pointed out the county's law enforcement resources are stretched thin in general.
"Our call volume is already 10 percent higher this year than it was at this time last year," he said. "I don't think 16 deputies is going to be effective for much longer."
Initially, county officials were eyeing combining the jail, sheriff's office and courthouse into a single complex - a justice center. That's likely off the table now, Jungermann said.
"People don't want to see the court system leave downtown or the jail come into town," he said.
The county is currently seeking an appropriate location for a new courthouse in the downtown area.
"We're willing to work with whatever ends up being the best plan," Judge Sue Crane said. "Judge (Carol) England and I love this old courthouse and our courtrooms, but we welcome what we and this community need."
She noted the limited number of courtrooms slows the judicial system in a way that can be frustrating for people seeking justice.
As for a new jail, the current top contender is the property on which the current jail stands.
N-Form architect Jennifer Wilson said a repeat of the current jail's structural issues, caused by the fill settling beneath the building's slab, can be avoided in a new structure.
"The current practice is to do soil testing," Wilson said. "We will remove and replace soil as necessary."
While the current jail is too damaged to be added onto, it will still serve a purpose, Chism said. The sheriff's office desperately needs additional space to store evidence and maintenance equipment.
"That old jail is not going to just sit there and rot," he said.
Financing
LJ Hart is a Missouri-based investment banking company. The county hired the company to review the county's cash flow and figure out what kind of tax might be necessary to pay for the project.
CEO Larry Hart said while his firm is still waiting on some numbers, two half-cent sales taxes should adequately provide for the construction and upkeep of new facilities.
The first tax would go toward the justice center's construction, other improvements to county facilities, operations of new facilities and "other law enforcement activities" - for example, to help the county afford higher salaries for deputies. That tax would have no expiration date.
"I think there's a lot of people who'd love to be (a road deputy or corrections officer) if the salaries and conditions were better and they could actually get a day or two off," Chism said.
The second tax would be solely targeted at paying for the facility construction and improvements, and would come with a built-in expiration date 21 years after its passage. The county would have the option of ending it early if the construction expenses were paid off quicker than anticipated.
The deadline to place a measure on the November ballot is the second week of August.
More information about potential locations and ballot language is coming soon, Jungermann said.
"This is going to be a process and we need to start moving in a direction," he said.