New Clay County Jail Needs Funding

Commission Proposes Increasing Sales Tax

There are new developments in the planning of a new Clay County jail.

It’s the oldest jail in the state and a lack of available jail cells is costing up to a $1 million per year. In the next five years, the commission is expecting to have about $1.5 million to go towards the new jail. But the remainder of funding is the issue.

The commission is suggesting an increase in the local sales tax to cover the rest. They plan on using Fargo’s sales tax as a comparison.

“One of the things that we would never do, we would never ask for a sales tax that would put us higher than the people across the river. Right now on the Fargo side of the river they’re at 7.5 percent and we’re at 6.875 percent,” said Clay County Commissioner Kevin Campbell.

In attempts to save money, there are plans to build a joint law enforcement center with the new jail. The commission says they hope to start construction in 2018.