By Ken Wyatt
Fresh from a Monday morning special meeting of the county board, Commissioner Earl Poleski reported to township boards to expect a 0.25-mill proposal on the Nov. 5 ballot. It will be smaller, shorter, more focused – and it won’t include any funds for county jail construction.
Poleski quipped in his presentation at Pulaski Township, “We’re stuck with Wesley Street for some time now.” By interpretation, he meant that the new proposal is only for jail operations. Without funds to operate the jail, failure of the two previous jail millage proposals would mean a $1.5 million shortfall in the budget.
That’s why the county board unanimously voted to ask taxpayers for authority to levy 0.25 mills for the next 10 years. The tax, if approved by voters, would bring in $1.5 million in the first year.
And, he stressed, none of the revenue would go toward any new jail construction – whether at the old Wesley Street jail or the newer facility at Chanter Road in Blackman Township. It’s solely for operations.
The first two proposals – one for 1.5 mills in 2022 and the other for 0.9 mills in the August primary election – would have provided revenue for construction of new jail facilities plus operations. The big change in the new proposal is that it is stripped of any construction plans.
Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Jacobson said he expects to see a gradual shift away from non-emergency responses by the sheriff’s department. Poleski added his own thoughts on that issue – suggesting at the Pulaski board meeting that communities contracting for police coverage (Concord, for example) should continue to receive the services they pay for. As for other townships and communities, they may well be more inclined to contract for police coverage with the department.
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Cutlines:
1105: County Commissioner Earl Poleski reporting to the Pulaski Township Board Monday on the county board’s decision to seek another jail millage from voters in the Nov. 5 election.
