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Oklahoma County commissioners fail to advance half‑cent sales tax after DA flags legal issues
Summary
Commissioner Paul Foster moved to place a half‑cent sales tax on the ballot, largely to fund a new jail, but the motion died for lack of a second after the District Attorney's office said it had not approved the proposition as to legality and public commenters criticized the proposal.
Oklahoma County commissioners on June 23 declined to advance a proposed half‑cent sales tax — commonly described in public comment as a "jail tax" — after the District Attorney's office said it had not had sufficient time to sign off on the ballot language and a second for the motion was not made.
Commissioner Paul Foster moved to approve a resolution sending the measure to the ballot so "the voters can decide," outlining the proposed spending breakdown: 45% for debt service on a new jail, 33% for operations and maintenance of the new jail and behavioral health center, 1% for juvenile detention, 1% for fire and EMS, 3% for the sheriff, 0.5% for emergency operations, 2.5% for diversion programs and 14% for roads and bridge maintenance. "In my mind, the jail is public safety," Foster said as he urged the commission to act and place the item before voters.
But a representative of the District Attorney's office told the board the office had received the proposed resolution on June 17 and had only about two business days to review it. "The DA has approved as to form, but we are not able at this time to approve it as to legality," the DA's office said, citing statutory concerns and readability issues with the draft language. After the DA's statement and further discussion, Foster's motion "died for lack of a second." No formal vote on the substance of the measure occurred.
Members of the public urged caution or opposed the tax. Jennifer Mayo, identifying herself as an Oklahoma County resident in District 3, said the proposition appeared to establish a permanent tax and questioned where the 45% allocated for debt service would go once bonds were paid off, noting the jail project's cost had grown from "260 to 860 million." Christopher Johnston said recent one‑time funds left the county with adequate resources for operations and argued a new sales tax was unnecessary: "We don't need this jail tax anymore. We've got enough money, guys." Other speakers criticized the county's ties to the Chamber of Commerce and called for different budget priorities.
The board did not adopt the resolution. Commissioners indicated staff and legal counsel must further vet the timing, statutory compliance and ballot language before the measure could be reconsidered.
