Friday, August 25, 2006

County sets hearing for jail funding plan

Commission to convene Tuesday


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Blaine County commissioners will hold a public hearing Tuesday to see how citizens feel about a proposal to levy a one-half-percent local option sales tax to fund a new jail and law enforcement complex.

The hearing is set to start at 10 a.m. in the commissioners' hearing room upstairs in the old Blaine County Courthouse at 206 First Ave. South in Hailey.

Sheriff Walt Femling, who proposed the funding plan, will present information about it prior to opening the meeting for public comment.

Femling has suggested that half the money raised from the proposed tax be used to fund a new jail and law enforcement complex and half be used for property tax relief.

County officials have been looking for a new funding plans since early July, when 5th District Court Judge Barry Wood ruled illegal a plan that would have allowed the county to use surplus funds to build the facility.

The commissioners are expected to make a decision on the proposal by the end of this month. That would allow time to get the issue on the ballot for consideration by voters in the November general election. A two-thirds majority is needed for passage.




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