Voters throughout Lincoln County will decide two propositions during a special election on Tuesday, July 13.
Proposition 1 is for establishing a countywide ambulance service district and Proposition 2 is for construction of a new county jail.
All eligible voters in Lincoln County may cast a ballot.
Officials point out each proposition requires only a 50 percent majority of the vote to pass.
The proposed jail would have 151 beds, with 50 possible slots to house people who have been arrested on federal charges and are awaiting trial. The county would get $64 a day for each of those people in the jail.
County Sheriff Charlie Dougherty said remodeling the existing jail is not an option because remodeling would make it subject to new space rules and requirements and would reduce its capacity to a 55-bed facility.
The resolution on the jail issue stipulates the general obligation bonds will not exceed $13.5 million. They will be used to provide funds for acquiring real property, if necessary, and designing, constructing, equipping, furnishing and maintaining a new Lincoln County Jail to be completed with or without the use of other available funds.
Ad valorem taxes will be required to pay off those bonds, but the increase on real property in the county will be limited to five mills, the resolution states, and the bond issue must be paid off within 30 years.
According to a fact sheet on letterhead from County Assessor Jackie Holcomb, passing the jail question would raise taxes by up to $55 a year on property valued at $100,000 and could remain in effect for up to 30 years. Approving the ambulance question would raise taxes by $33 a year on property valued at $100,000 and would be a permanent increase unless voters remove it.
If approved, the ambulance issue will include setting up a 522 District with a board of approximately five to seven people who will oversee it. It will include the levying and assessing a new special annual recurring ad valorem tax of three mills on the dollar of assessed valuation, in addition to all other levies upon all taxable property in Lincoln County.
An official has explained that, “100 percent of the money will go to the district for the ambulance service.”
If the ballot measure is approved, it will provide funds for the support, organization, operation and maintenance of ambulance and emergency response services in Lincoln County.
Lincoln County Election Board Secretary says early in-person voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 8 and 9 in the lobby of the courthouse at 811 Manvel Avenue in Chandler. She stresses there is no early voting at the polling locations.
The County Election Board office is located in the courthouse in Suite 15 and is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office number is 405-258-1349.
On election day, July 13, voters must go to their respective polling locations.