GRANT COUNTY — The Grant County Council hosted a public hearing Oct. 15 on the modification of the local income tax (LIT) rates to potentially fund a new jail project.
The council ultimately voted unanimously to increase the income tax rate.
This modification would help fund the construction of the proposed correctional and rehabilitation facility.
Council President Greg Kitts said the modification would raise the LIT rate by 0.2%. If passed, it would become effective Jan. 1, 2026. According to Councilman Jim McWhirt, the 0.2% increase would bring in roughly $3 million in 2026.
Resident Ryan Howell said law enforcement and public safety officials should be the number one priority, but as a taxpayer, he wondered why everything is so expensive.
Resident and taxpayer Michael Duke said there are some out there who are struggling to make ends meet. He encouraged the council to help increase the tax base rather than raising the tax itself and to find the root problem in the increase of the jail population.
“Now, another 0.2% is being considered to be added into the local income tax. It’s not going to be the first tax that you consider here,” Duke said. “I wager within the next several months, you’re going to be considering other taxes, too.”
Resident Phil Creech said he is also in favor of supporting law enforcement more but encouraged the council to find ways to maintain the jail rather than expand or build a new one.
McWhirt said the council is considering raising the LIT without first having the final proposed cost of the jail project and won’t know the number until roughly late December or early January.
“In my mind, if we feel like we’re going to do some kind of a project, whether it be this coming year or two years down the road, whatever it is... Putting the tax in place to start having the money accumulated for that project, whatever it becomes, makes sense to me,” he said. “We may put this in place and not agree on something this January, and we’re going to delay it for some time, I don’t know.”
He said the council could make a more informed decision in the winter.
“Because the sooner we get it, the less costly it’s going to be,” McWhirt continued.
Councilman Mike Scott said he didn't know if the council can avoid modifying the LIT entirely due to Senate Bill 1 (SB1) and the loss of revenue that new law will bring the county.
“We know that there are repairs and maintenance that needs to happen on our facilities. And, for good reason, the commissioners gave us a list of $4 million of repair that needs to be done,” Scott said. “We’re going to be facing something that’s going to hit us in the future at some point in time.”
Scott also said they are not building a new jail because of the conditions at the current jail but because of the influx of inmates. He agreed with Duke that finding the root cause of the increase in inmates is important, but that will also cost money.
“If we maintain the current jail, it’s going to take additional dollars that we don’t have. If we repair the 'D home' and turn that into 92 beds, it’s going to take dollars that we don’t have,” Scott said. “One way or another, I don’t think we can avoid the increase in the LIT. Where we go from there, I think is vitally important.”
He emphasized that just locking people away will not fix overcrowding and said there needs to be better programs to help get people out of jail. He said finding funding for programs to help people with drug addictions or mental health issues get out of jail is important.
Commissioner Comments
Commissioner Chuck Poling commented during the councilmen’s discussion and said they don’t know how much money the commissioners have saved the county by using their own construction crews for projects.
“I’ve studied this more than all of you. And I went up on these buildings. I know how much you’re saving. It was $900,000 to change the lights in the D home. You realize how much it cost us to change 660 lights in this building? Not $900,000,” Poling said. “I probably did more remodeling, building my own buildings than anybody in this room. It’s all about how you look at it. You got to study it, you got to use common sense because this is all of our monies.”
Poling also said when he was on the county council, when they tried to build things, they would get pushback on the different projects. He said the bottom line is if they don’t control the cost of the jail project now, the cost will only go up in the future.
“Guys, you got to trust us (the commissioners). Me and Shane have studied this ever since we’ve been on this council. I was only on the council for four years,” he said. “When you see how much money we’ve saved you in a year, it’s going to blow all you guys’ minds. And that’s because you got to use common sense. You got to use your own people. We don’t have a maintenance crew, we have a construction crew.”
Poling shared an example of the commissioners using their own construction crews to finish repairing the 911 call center building. Because of that, he said it saved the county much more money than continuing to use the contractor for the project.
Poling said he also feels the council should raise the LIT because the county will need the extra funds regardless of whether they end up building a new jail.
McWhirt said the council would try to get everything they needed out of a bid for the project, but also told Poling that he can’t use his crew to build a jail due to federal regulations.
“In my opinion, that jail shouldn’t be touched. Because when you remodel something nowadays...used to be cheaper. Nowadays, it’s more expensive to build new,” Poling said. “…but I’m in agreement with Mr. McWhirt. We’re going to need this (the modified LIT) one way or another.”
Kitts said he hated to agree with raising or modifying the LIT. He said the council will discuss at a later date what the jail project may look like.
McWhirt made a motion to adopt the 0.2% modification of the LIT for the correctional rehabilitation facility, effective Jan. 1, 2026.
“Now, obviously, I do that with reservations. I think we need to get the process, get the funding stream started,” he said. “I don’t know what it’s going to end up being at this point, as far as the project that is finally determined, but we have to have the revenue stream to do something.”
The council unanimously approved the motion to modify the LIT.
“I definitely hate raising taxes, and I feel like with all the federal rules and regulations, it raises the price and the cost of everything that we have to do,” Kitts said. “We’re treating our prisoners with the highest regard, but there’s all kinds of federal rules and regulations, and state rules and regulations that we have to follow in order to do that, which runs up that cost. It kind of starts putting us in a corner.”