“I’m as happy as a lark!” Steve Carter, District 2 Sequoyah County commissioner, said Wednesday morning after Sequoyah County voters approved a half-cent sales tax that will keep the county jail open and sheriff’s deputies patrolling county roads.

County voters approved the sales tax by a vote of 3,352 for to 1,500 against.

Voters also approved eliminating personal property tax by a vote of 3,823 for to 1,015 against.

Carter said the approval of the sales tax means the county will get, on average, about $90,000 a month for the jail. Combined with the one-sixth of a cent sales tax for the jail already in place, the tax is expected to bring in about $120,000 a month, or $1.44 million a year. Sequoyah County Sheriff Ron Lockhart estimated jail operations will cost about $1.4 million a year.

Carter, who held town hall meetings promoting the sales tax for the jail and sheriff’s office, said, “It surprised me that many people came out to vote, but I’m happy they did.”

The county commissioners were looking at drastic cuts in the 2009-10 county budget without the sales tax, and were considering cutting health insurance for county employees, layoffs and cutting back on the hours employees worked. Jail operations are cutting into the county’s budget they said.

Budget being rewritten

The county commissioners plan a special meeting for 10 a.m. Friday to decide on a new county budget, an agenda item they tabled last week and again Tuesday until a special meeting at 10 a.m. Friday. At that meeting, Carter said, the commissioners will work to keep employees on the job, hopefully with insurance benefits.

Vickie Wilson of Shawnee, the county’s budget maker, said Wednesday morning the total county budget, not including the expected sales tax, is $2,508,703. She said she was working Wednesday morning to include the half-cent sales tax for the remainder of the fiscal year, from January to June, and when finished would mail that budget to the commissioners. Wilson did not have the increased budget numbers ready at Your TIMES press time.

Carter said the county will not see any sales tax money increases until January. He explained the election must go through a two-week protest period and then the Oklahoma Tax Commission will be notified of the increased sales tax. The sales tax will differ in rural areas and in cities and towns, depending upon what sales taxes those areas already have in place. In Sallisaw the tax will be almost 10 percent.

Carter said the sales tax collections will probably begin in November, and will be returned to the county in January.

“They usually run 30 or more days behind,” he said.

In the meantime the county must continue to watch spending.

Carter said it is hoped the commissioners can keep county employees’ health insurance as it is — paid 100 percent by the county — but to make ends meet the county may have to pay only half the insurance and the employees pay half for the remainder of the fiscal year.

He expects that county offices will receive the same amount of the budget as they did last year, but the county commissioners’ office will take about a 92 percent cut to make ends meet. Carter explained the commissioners have accounts for road taxes, tag sales, and other sources, and that these accounts are used to make up short falls. The commissioners will use that money to keep the county running until sales tax revenue increases, he said.

Getting the county back on the budget track will take some time, Carter said.

“We probably won’t see any good affect of the tax until April or May,” Carter said, adding he hoped sales during the holiday season will add to the county’s coffers.

Carter is positive about the county’s financial future.

“I know we can do this,” he said about keeping employees on the job, and with county-paid health insurance.

“But we couldn’t have done this without everyone’s help,” Carter said about the support for the sales tax by county officials and employees and Your TIMES.

Lockhart responds

Lockhart said Wednesday morning he was grateful to the citizens in the county for the confidence and support of the sheriff’s office. Lockhart said it was like 1,000 pounds lifted off his back when the sales tax passed.

Lockhart said he is going to do some things different then what was done in the past to run the jail.

“We are going to save money. I am also going to give the citizens a report every three months on what our expenses were,” Lockhart said.

He said he is going to keep the citizens informed about where the money is going and what the money is being used for. Lockhart said he plans to put the report in the newspaper.

“We are going to make the citizens proud of the sheriff’s department and the jail,” Lockhart said. “And we are going to make it our responsibility it inform the citizens what is going on with expenses.

They’ve (the citizens of Sequoyah County) have given us the confidence to run the jail. I think we owe it to them to show them what our costs are,” Lockhart said.

Lockhart thanked citizens for their support.

“I’m grateful for all the hard work the deputies and detention officers families have put into this election. They have worked hard for this to pass. Everyone really worked together to show their support,” Lockhart said.

Lockhart explained that there will be plenty of money to operate the jail.

“I have $119,000 right now to operate the jail on until June. That is enough to operate two or three months,” Lockhart said.

“I think the commissioners are going to change some figures on the budget to possibly help us operate the sheriff’s office and the jail until the money starts to come in from the tax,” Lockhart said.

He said hopefully the county commissioners would give him some additional funds so the sheriff’s department can keep the same amount of manpower until January.

“I think they will,” Lockhart said.

Lockhart said, “no one likes taxes. I don’t like taxes but a dollar figure shouldn’t be put on public safety. We will always have enough money as long as I’m sheriff to run the jail.

“My main goal is to make sure the jail is run properly so our citizens won’t have to have more expenses. From what I can see the last two months that I have run jail, there will be plenty of money,” Lockhart said.