Lake County voters reject jail levy
Lake County voters on Tuesday soundly rejected a levy request to fund operations and an expansion of the county jail.
Unofficial results from the county election office showed that 4,638 votes were cast against the levy, with 2,446 for the levy.
The request was for $2.5 million annually for a period of 20 years.
A portion of that total, $1.5 million per year, was intended to fund construction of a new detention facility, which was estimated to cost up to $15 million. The other part of the request was for an additional $1 million per year for operating expenses for the expanded facility.
In addition to an expanded jail facility, the county commissioners hoped to establish other jail diversion and mental-health programs, and increase monitoring devices for those who are released.
If the levy had passed, property owners would have seen an annual tax increase of approximately $50.40 per $100,000 of property value.
In a media release following the vote, Lake County Commission Chairman Bill Barron said the election outcome was expected.
“It was a difficult decision for all and the outcome of the vote was not a huge surprise,” he said.
He said that leading up to the election commissioners had heard feedback that while a jail is needed, most voters weren’t going to support the levy.
“The main issues we heard were the inability to keep paying ever increasing taxes, the Public Law 280 issues and the lack of clarity in the Montana Water Rights Protection Act, i.e., are there really going to be 6,000 new jobs and how will that affect our overburdened public safety system,” Barron said.
He said the commission will continue to pursue new ideas to address the jail issue.
“The residents need and deserve a justice system that works,” he concluded.
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