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Commission approves changing ballot language to “must” for proposed 1% Chesterfield County sales tax to fund $50M detention center
Summary
Commission members voted to change the ballot question wording from “shall” to “must” for a proposed special 1% sales and use tax that would fund a $50,000,000 new county detention center; staff read the revised ballot language and outlined outreach plans with the county council and local service groups.
Chair called the commission to order and opened a brief meeting that began with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer led by the vice chair.
The meeting’s substantive action centered on a single-word change to an upcoming ballot question. Jordan, a staff member, told the commission that staff recommended changing the opening verb in the resolution’s first paragraph from “shall” back to “must” to ensure the question was strictly compliant with a cited statutory provision. Jordan read aloud both the prior and revised versions of the paragraph: “shall a special 1% sales and use tax be imposed in Chesterfield County, South Carolina for not more than 8 years to raise the amount specified for the design, engineering, purchase, construction, renovation, equipping, and furnishing of the following? Item 1, construction of a new county detention center in the amount of $50,000,000,” and the revised version beginning “must a special 1% sales and use tax…”
The staff explanation included a verbal reference to a statute (read aloud in the meeting as “South Florida code section 4 10 3 30 d”) as the basis for the stricter wording. The staff member described the change as a technical clarification intended to reduce legal risk to the ballot question.
Jordan moved to approve the wording change and the motion received a second. The chair called for the vote and commissioners responded in the affirmative. The chair noted that Karen Watson’s vote was not audibly confirmed at the microphone and said they would confirm her vote for the record; no opposition was announced during the roll call.
After the motion, Jordan reminded the commission of outreach plans: a July 20 meeting with the county council at 9 a.m. to discuss public promotion and a July 21 presentation by Chief Deputy Spence Vaughn to the Chesterfield Service Club (scheduled at the YMCA at 12:30 p.m.).
Other routine business included adoption of the meeting agenda and approval of minutes from the June 23 meeting. The chair moved to adjourn after a brief exchange and the commission closed the meeting.
