Voters approve extension of Law Enforcement Sales Tax

Clay County voters approved an extension of the one-eighth cent sales tax for law enforcement services for 12 years with an expiration date of June 2022. The measure was on the Nov. 3, 2009, ballot and passed with 70.84% of votes cast in favor of the extension.

The eighth-cent Law Enforcement Sales Tax, initially approved February 3, 1998, paid for the renovation and expansion of the Clay County Detention Center, a project nearly doubling its daily inmate housing capacity from 208 to 397. In 2008, more than 5,000 inmates were booked into the Clay County Jail. The final bond payment for the jail expansion will be made in 2010. Law Enforcement Sales Tax revenues will continue to provide funds for maintenance, operations and security of the expanded jail, including the incarceration of Clay County criminals, as well as other law enforcement operations and services.

The purpose of this sales tax is solely for law enforcement related operations and services. Missouri state law requires that all funds raised from the Law Enforcement Sales Tax be used exclusively for this purpose. To ensure that Clay County uses the Law Enforcement Sales Tax for its intended purpose, third-party audits are conducted annually to ensure compliance with state law.

The Law Enforcement Sales Tax generates about one-third of the required revenues to support law enforcement for Clay County. Existing revenue sources pay for the balance. Clay County received bout $3.4 million in 2008 from the Law Enforcement Sales Tax. Projections for 2009 indicate about $3.1 million in revenues will be received. Anyone who purchases goods or services subject to sales tax in Clay County pays the Law Enforcement Sales Tax at the time of purchase. The rate of one-eighth cent is the same rate that was initially approved in 1998. On a $100 purchase, the amount paid in Law Enforcement Sales Tax is 12.5 cents.

Clay County Detention Center inmate housing is available to cities within Clay County, including Claycomo, Excelsior Springs, Gladstone, Kearney, Liberty, Mosby, North Kansas City, Oakview, Pleasant Valley, Randolph, Smithville, and occasionally Kansas City.