Commissioners approved the 25-year proposal 2-1, adding limits of 800,000 square feet and 1,800 beds.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma County voters will decide Nov. 3 whether to approve a 25-year sales tax to complete and operate a new jail and support diversion and mental health programs.
County commissioners voted 2-1 Wednesday morning to place the 0.40% sales tax on the ballot. District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan and interim District 3 Commissioner Paul Foster voted for the proposal. District 1 Commissioner Jason Lowe opposed it.
If approved by voters, the tax would begin April 1, 2027, and expire March 31, 2052. It would add 4 cents to a $10 taxable purchase.
Maughan’s motion added limits of 800,000 square feet and 1,800 beds. Those restrictions were recommended by the Citizens Bond Oversight Advisory Board but did not appear in the resolution posted before the meeting.
Foster asked whether the 1,800-bed figure was an exact limit. Oversight board Chairman Steve Mason said limited flexibility might be necessary because jail housing is built in complete pods. He suggested allowing approximately 1,800 beds—possibly 50 more or fewer—rather than leaving part of a pod unused.
Commissioners did not expressly add Mason’s proposed range to Maughan’s motion before voting.
The oversight board also recommended a $605 million financing cap. Maughan did not include that figure when stating his motion.
Mason estimated the tax would generate about $70 million annually, with approximately $44 million going toward debt payments and $26 million available for jail operations, diversion and mental health programs.
Commissioners separately approved the election proclamation and an implementation plan establishing financial controls and reporting requirements. All three measures passed by the same 2-1 vote.
The plan requires tax collections to be placed in a restricted fund separate from the county’s general fund. It also calls for quarterly financial reports, annual performance reports and a public dashboard tracking revenue, spending, contracts and projects.
Commissioners may appoint a citizens oversight subcommittee with financial, construction, behavioral health and criminal justice expertise. The committee would be advisory and would not have independent spending authority.
Why the county is seeking more money
Voters approved $260 million in bonds in 2022 to replace the downtown jail, which opened in 1991.
Work is underway at the Grand Boulevard campus on a 60-bed Behavioral Care Center and the first phase of the adult detention center. County officials say the existing bond proceeds are not sufficient to complete the full jail or provide ongoing operating revenue.
Wednesday’s vote followed two sales-tax proposals that failed without receiving a second. Lowe proposed a permanent five-eighths-cent tax in January, and Foster proposed a permanent half-cent tax in June. The measure headed to voters has a lower rate and expires after 25 years.
Lowe questions planning and public trust
Lowe said he supports addressing conditions at the existing jail but does not believe the sales-tax proposal provides an adequate plan for diversion, rehabilitation and mental health services.
“We have to focus on diversion programs and to make sure that rehabilitation is a priority,” Lowe said. “I cannot support this jail tax. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do at this point in time.”
He also criticized earlier decisions to begin the new jail without enough money to complete and operate it and questioned whether county officials had been forthright about alternatives to the selected site.
Foster said he would have preferred a tax that dropped to a lower rate after 25 years to continue paying operating and maintenance costs. He nevertheless supported putting the current proposal before voters because continued delay would increase the project’s cost.
“The longer we wait to put this to a public vote, the more expensive it’s going to get,” Foster said.
The ballot language allows the revenue to be spent on construction, operations, staffing and financing for adult and juvenile detention, diversion programs and mental health facilities and services. It does not establish fixed percentages for those purposes.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has not taken a formal position. A Chamber official previously told OK Politics Today that its board would wait for commissioners to act before considering whether to support the measure.
