County Law Enforcement Initiative up for Vote

Clay County residents will choose whether or not an important one-eighth cent sales tax will continue to fund the Sheriff’s Office. The November 2 ballot measure has been approved twice by Clay County voters in the past, and if approved, will be the last time the tax will need to appear on a ballot.

It would be life changing for the residents of Clay County, because the services we provide the county will be greatly inhibited. - Sheriff Will Akin

The sales tax is Proposition 1, and it provides the Clay County Sheriff’s Office with about 25% of its annual budget. It funds the necessary items that the Sheriff’s office needs to continue to protect and serve the residents of Clay County.

“This is not an increase. If you do the math, it ends up being two and a half cents per $20 spent in Clay County,” said Sheriff Will Akin on Kearney Live. “But if you equate the amount of loss we’ll take if this measure doesn’t pass, it’s roughly 25% of my budget, which is about $5 million.”

Sheriff Akin indicated that a $5 million step backwards would have a huge detriment on how the Sheriff’s Office functions. If the measure doesn’t pass, many Sheriff’s Office duties like road patrol, paper service, court security, investigations, and jail supervision would be negatively impacted. 

“It would be life changing for the residents of Clay County,” Akin said. “Because the services we provide the county will be greatly inhibited. But we also have the employee aspect. Because if we lose this, and I lose 25% of my budget and 81% of my budget currently goes to personnel, we’re going to have to make up for that somewhere.”

Not only is Sheriff Akin responsible for people in the county, but also for the people who are housed in the detention center. Part of the Sheriff’s Office budget goes to food, clothing, medical supplies and other necessities required to house people incarcerated in the jail.

“Another thing I don’t think people think about is, the Sheriff’s biggest responsibility, where we have the most resources and personnel devoted to is the jail,” Public Relations Manager Sarah Boyd told Kearney Live. “Some of the most dangerous people need to be kept out of the streets, and they also need to be treated humanely.”

The continuation of the law enforcement one-eighth cent sales tax will on the November 2 ballot. The Clay County Commission decided to remove the sunset clause for this initiative so if passed, it would save the county $100,000 by not holding another vote for the tax. 

“This is not a new tax,” said Boyd. “This is a one-eighth cent tax and it’s not even paid by people who all live in Clay County. A lot of it comes from people who eat here, who visit here, who work here. We encourage voters to see how the Sheriff’s Office has served the county and how we can continue to do that with the sales tax.”

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story