sgusers的部落格

Source: Tulsa World, Okla.自存倉Aug. 17--Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith and Commissioner-Elect Ron Peters said Friday that they would vote in favor of calling a special election on a proposed criminal-justice sales tax should that be necessary to place the question on the Nov. 12 ballot."I feel confident that at least two of the commissioners would vote to put it on the ballot," Keith said.Two votes is all it would take for the three-member Board of County Commissioners to call the election. County Commissioner John Smaligo has said previously that he would not support any measure that increases the tax rate.But the commission might not have to call the election. Keith, Sheriff Stanley Glanz and local attorney Campbell Cooke are behind a petition drive to place a 0.167 percent countywide criminal-justice sales tax on the Nov. 12 ballot.County officials said Friday that they have about a third of the approximately 17,750 signatures they need to call the election. They have until Friday to submit their petition to the Tulsa County Election Board.Should the petition drive succeed, the election would occur on the same day Tulsa residents are expected to vote on a $919.9 million capital improvements package that would be funded in part by the city's own 0.167 percent sales tax.City and county officials have been meeting privately over the past two weeks to find a compromise that would fund both proposals without putting either in jeopardy come election day.Keith said Friday there were at least two scenarios that could prompt commissioners to act on their own to call an election: the petition drive fails or talks with the city result in the county's having to modify its tax proposal -- to a lower rate, for example.Should that happen, Keith said, she would vote to call an election."Yes, absolutely," she said.Peters, who will be sworn in as District 3 commissioner on Monday, said the city and county need to come out of their talks united "so we can do what is best for the citizens of Tulsa and Tulsa County."But, he added, as a state legislator he consistently supported efforts to put issues to a vote of the people, and the county vote would be no different."I would be consistent with what I have done in the past," Peters said.Glanz said Friday that the petition drive experienced a bit of setback this week when officials learned that the deadline for submitting signatures to the Election Board is Aug. 23."This kind of surprised us, having to have it in next week, but we're going to work to do i迷你倉新蒲崗," the sheriff said.County officials initially thought they had until Sept. 12, but the deadline was pushed up 17 days to give the Election Board seven days to verify signatures and residents 10 days to challenge the petition.Undersheriff Tim Albin said the public has responded positively to the petition drive because the projects the proposed tax would fund -- a new juvenile justice center and mental health pods at the Tulsa Jail -- are services the public understands are needed."There are very few families that haven't had to deal with a mental health issue or had a child who hasn't taken a left turn" and required help, Albin said. "So it's resonating. They understand it."The bulk of the signatures for the petition have been collected by Sheriff's Office employees working off the clock and out of uniform, Albin said.The Sheriff's Office has 600 employees. Albin noted that if each employee gathered 40 signatures, that would bring the total to 24,000 -- thousands more than is needed to place the proposal on the ballot.But he's not counting on that. Neither is Keith or Glanz. So they're collecting signatures, too."I have turned in five sheets, over 100 signatures," Glanz said.Sales-tax possibilitiesThe ballot initiative to hold a Nov. 12 special election on a 0.167 percent countywide sales tax to fund a new juvenile justice center and additional pods at the Tulsa Jail comes at the same time the city of Tulsa is proposing a Nov. 12 city election on its next capital improvements package.The city's proposed $919.9 million capital improvements package would be funded in part with an existing citywide 1.167 percent sales tax.Right now, shoppers in Tulsa pay 8.517 percent in sales taxes. That includes a 4.5 percent sales tax to the state, a 3.167 percent tax to the city and a 0.85 percent tax to the county.Here are three potential scenarios for future taxes:Scenario 1City tax package passes and county tax fails: 8.517 percent (tax remains same)Scenario 2City tax package fails and county tax passes: 7.517 percent (tax is decreased)Scenario 3Both tax packages pass: 8.684 percent (tax is increased)Scenario 4Both tax packages fail: 7.35 percent (tax is decreased)Sales tax rates in Tulsa CountyIf a countywide jail tax is approved, 0.167 would be added to each community's existing sales-tax rate.Kevin Canfield 918-581-8313kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) Visit Tulsa World (Tulsa, Okla.) at .tulsaworld.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租