Voters in Platte County reject 20-year half-cent sales tax increase to fund prison expansion

In Tuesday's primary, a half-cent sales tax to expand the Platte City prison was overwhelmingly rejected.

There were two questions on the ballot: one about the issuance of municipal bonds, which required a 4/7 majority, and a second about the sales tax, which required a simple majority. Both had to be approved in order to move forward with the project.

The bond issue received a 53.7% approval rating, while the sales tax failed, with 37.6% of voters voting for the 20-year tax.

A measure from 2019 to expand the facility also failed.

Platte County Sheriff Mark Owen, who is not seeking re-election, said last month that the jail was over capacity. In a snapshot last month, 202 people were being held at the facility, built in 1998. The jail's capacity is 180. That has now risen to 240, Owen said.

Some cells that were originally designed for one person could accommodate three people.

Owen, who supported the sales tax, said older parts of the current prison, such as ventilation shafts, are rusting and those materials could be dismantled and turned into weapons.

Sometimes the sheriff's office must send people to jails in Cass and Buchanan counties when they are overcrowded, incurring additional costs for personnel and transportation.

Had the vote passed, the jail would have been able to expand to 470 beds, a 161% increase in capacity. The funds would have been used to renovate the existing facility, construct a new building and cover operating costs. It was expected that this would meet the county's needs through 2048.

HMN Architects, an Overland Park-based firm that has designed several prisons in the region, has already received a design contract for the project in late 2023.

The sheriff said he expects the jail population to increase in the coming years. The county hired a national jail consultant to calculate the number of beds based on growth and trends in the county. The jail population fluctuates not only because of the crime rate, but also because of political decisions that determine who should be incarcerated and for how long.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of prison beds nationwide has increased over the past decade, while occupancy at local jails has declined.

Under the proposal, people in Platte County would have had to pay an additional tax on purchases, including online sales, over the next 20 years. According to Platte County, the sales tax would generate about $400 million.

The language of the measure states the county could have used the funds to operate and maintain the jail. Since the sheriff expects the jail's inmate population to increase, they will also need additional staff, he said.