ENID, Okla. — Garfield County residents could consider a sales tax increase to expand and renovate the county jail, which has become increasingly overcrowded over the last decade, officials said Tuesday.
County commissioners on Tuesday morning gave Garfield County Detention Facility officials the go-ahead to refine expansion plans and financial expenses before a tax resolution could appear before voters in August.
If passed, the countywide sales tax would increase by around 0.30% — or 30 cents on every $100 spent — to 0.65% to fund the construction and operations, bringing in around $440,000 a month to fund the construction. The county sales tax currently stands at 0.35%, with 0.25% going toward the detention facility.
Jail administrator Ben Crooks said the proposed expansion would add 82 beds and 16,000 square feet and renovate part of the current about 45,000-square-foot building, located at 1020 S. 10th.
Funding from this increase mostly would go toward building lower-security cells for prisoners at the facility, he said.
The total cost of the project would come out to roughly $8.5 million, Crooks told commissioners. Design and financial advisers would refine that amount before a June 8 resolution submission deadline for Garfield County Election Board.
Voters then would consider the resolution on the Aug. 23 ballot, Crooks said.
After construction, the increase would cover all of the facility’s operational costs, he said.
He told the News & Eagle later Tuesday he would seek other funding options if a sales tax increase resolution doesn’t pass. These included funding from ad valorem increases; federal money; the Oklahoma Rehabilitative Programs Fund Initiative; or the detention facility’s general fund appropriations.
Crooks said a sales tax proposal was the most possible, timely and available option.
The jail, which opened in 2005, has exceeded the operational capacity of 193 beds for more than 10 years in a row, Crooks said. It also has exceeded the design capacity of 232 beds nine years of the last 11, he said.
“The bottom line is, (GCDF is) short on the number of beds we need to operate properly, classify properly and maintain safety and security right now,” Crooks said.
In 2022, the jail has averaged 242 inmates per day so far, reaching as high as 268 in January. Last year, the daily average was 225.
By 2024, the inmate population is projected at 232, then set to increase to 244 by 2039.
Crooks said when the jail is overcrowded, portable beds are put into cells, which can increase tensions among inmates and lead to more incidents and injuries.
The inmate-to-staff ratio also increases.
The proposal also suggests that the Garfield County Criminal Justice Authority Overcrowding Committee be renamed the Review and Advisory Committee to the CJA for sales tax referendum matters and subsequent application of sales tax funds.
A sales tax for the GCDF was approved by voters in 2002 to cover the cost of constructing the facility.
In 2018, a continuation of that sales tax went into place and will continue to 2033. The potential sales tax increase in the proposal would be separate.
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