In January, an educational and promotional campaign from the Citizens in Support of a Sales Tax Increase to Build a Warren County Law Enforcement Center will begin for residents of Warren County to make an informed decision come April when a sales tax referendum will be presented on the ballot. Chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee of the jail project for the Warren County Board Chip Algren informs the campaign that is running with the State Board of Elections has raised nearly $15,000 and explains if the referendum is passed, how funds will be used:
“We have been in the process of raising money in order to support the promotion. We have raised close to $15,000 to help promote the campaign. April 4th is the election and if it passes, we will begin collecting revenues on January 1st of 2024. We will then collect revenue for about a three to four year period to build up our down payment. The county also received a little over $3 million is what I refer to as COVID money and they have pledged $2 million of that money to the project. We want to accumulate about a $5 million down payment and then at that point we will issue bonds and construction would start on the project and would take about eighteen months for the project to be built.”
The sales tax to be presented to voters of Warren County is a sunset tax, which ends after the debt is paid off. Algren says the county would be looking at around a 20 year bond to pay off the debt. As for the location of the new potential Warren County Law Enforcement Center, the County Board is in the process of purchasing a six acre tract west of McDonald’s on the outskirts of Monmouth.
