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County leaders seek new revenue options after rejecting a broader sales tax proposal to fund jail construction and operations in Oklahoma County.
The Oklahoma County Commission is backing a new approach to secure funding for a new county jail, pursuing plans to tax vaping and medical marijuana products as alternative sources of revenue.
The commissioner’s new tax plan comes after previous plans for a permanent countywide sales tax fell through, with the commission rejecting the proposal due to its scale and lack of a clear plan.
“For me, it just was too large of an amount and didn’t have a plan in place as to who was going to run the campaign,” Oklahoma County District 2 Commissioner Brian Maughan said.
Maughan cited the timing of the proposal, as well as its failure to outline campaign leadership and financial backing, as what made it difficult to support.
“It wasn’t the right timing, because we don’t know if we’re going to get these legislative reforms that we’re seeking this year,” Maughan said, “If we are able to do that, then it would offset some of what we need to go to the voters for and ask for a sales tax.”
Instead, Maughan said the county wants to wait for potential state reforms that could generate revenue before asking voters for a tax. Specifically, the county is seeking the ability to tax medical marijuana and vaping products as alternative revenue sources.
“We’re asking for the ability to tax medical marijuana and also the vaping juice and devices,” Maughan said. “It could take all the way through the end of May… so it would be premature to roll out something until we know what the outcome of that legislative process will be.”
Maughan said local taxation on these industries could reduce reliance on a broader sales tax. Coincidentally, a bill from the Oklahoma House of Representatives could do just that.
House Bill 3314, authored by Rep. Ryan Eaves, R-Atoka, would authorize counties to impose up to a 15% public service impact tax on retail marijuana sales within county limits.
Though the bill does not automatically create a tax. If a county chooses to pursue one, it must first be approved by a majority of county voters at a special election.
Regardless, Maughan says funding shortfalls for jail operations and staffing at the county’s current jail remain a persistent challenge, with Oklahoma County’s lack of a sales tax making funding infrastructure and services more difficult than in other counties. Without a sales tax, Maughan says they lack revenue options available to other counties.
“Oklahoma County is the only county in the whole state that does not have a sales tax,” Maughan said. “We’re solely dependent on the property taxes.”
In the meantime, county leaders say they will continue exploring revenue options while awaiting the outcome of state legislative efforts.
“We’re going to do everything we can,” Maughan said.
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