Proposition L: New Tax for a New Jail
We’ll be voting on a lot of major issues this November, but I wanted to hear people’s thoughts on Proposition L.
For those who haven’t seen the details, it’s a 3/8-cent sales tax intended to fund the construction of a new Boone County jail. I’ve already seen yard signs in favor of Prop L, but none of them clearly explain what the funds would go toward.
Personally, I’m hesitant to support a regressive tax that would fund additional incarceration rather than programs that help keep people out of jail in the first place. Crime has been trending downward in Columbia and Boone County, while the cost of just about everything else continues to rise. We also narrowly passed a sales tax increase for law enforcement infrastructure recently, so it is frustrating to see we are being asked again for additional funding.