Clark County officials brief New Carlisle council on half-point sales-tax proposal to fund new jail

Clark County officials told the New Carlisle City Council that a proposed half-percentage-point sales-tax increase will appear on the November ballot to help pay for a new public-safety complex that would include a replacement jail.

The county presentation, delivered by Clark County Commissioner Sasha Rittenhouse and an unidentified Clark County sheriff, outlined a DLZ consulting estimate of about $100 million for construction and related hard and soft costs and described how the county would use sales-tax revenue to cover the project and related needs.

Rittenhouse said the county is asking voters to increase the county portion of the sales tax from 7.25% to 7.75% — a half-percent increase — and that the levy would be placed on the November ballot. “We have asked to increase our sales tax from 7.25% to, 7.75%. So, half of a percent,” she said. Rittenhouse told the council the county lacks other reliable local revenue streams it could use for the project — “We cannot,…