Comanche County’s Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution in September of 2020 which called for a 10-year extension of a 3/8ths of a cent county sales tax.
The funds were needed, the commission told the public, for the Comanche County Detention Center, for improvements and operational costs of the Comanche County Fairgrounds, to help pay for costs associated with the volunteer fire departments in Comanche County – and rural fire protection – for the sheriff’s department and to help fund the economic development efforts of Comanche County’s Industrial Development Authority.
The commission also adopted a resolution which said the bulk of the funds – 80 percent – would be earmarked for the detention center. The remaining 20 percent would be shared with the remainder of county government.
Times have changed.
Less than a decade ago, in 2014, the Board of Commissioners adopted a similar resolution that allocated funds in a far different manner. Two thirds, or 66 percent, of the revenue would go toward the county jail for “capital improvements and operational costs” with the remaining third in other areas of county government, including economic development.
Of the remaining one-third, about 48 percent would go to the industrial development authority, 17 percent to the fairgrounds, 16 percent for rural fire protection and 10 percent for contingencies.
There is a case to be made for allocating more than half of the proceeds from the county’s sales to the detention center. The problem, though, is that figure continues to increase. Now, today, 80 percent of that tax would go to a single entity – the jail.
If the jail were the county’s only institution that required funding, those increases would not be an issue – but it’s not. Comanche County government includes several areas that, like the jail, require funding to provide services.
Throwing new money at the same old problem isn’t going to improve the jail. Instead of spending an ever-increasing amount on the detention facility, Comanche County’s Board of Commissioners should work with the sheriff’s office and the Lawton Police Department to develop better public safety policies. They should also ask experts and seek outside advice.
Our county – along with the rest of the state – is still dealing with the effects of the ‘tough on crime’ attitude which cost us billions of dollars and has done little to reduce crime and criminal activity. It’s time to think, and spend, smart.
Imagine if Comanche County earmarked additional funds for economic development. Imagine the power of diversifying our economic base and bringing new businesses and industries to southwestern Oklahoma.
The commission knows this. In fact, one member praised the CCIDA, saying it’s “doing a great job” and that the funds the agency receives from the county tax are vital in support of the organization’s efforts to “bring jobs to Lawton and contribute to its prosperity and growth.”
Another example of this effort is Lawton’s Fires Innovation Science and Technology Accelerator program – also known as FISTA – which will be managed by a trust charged with taking advantage of local opportunities for investment in industrial development and high-tech job creation.
Instead of more money for the jail, the commission should strengthen the county’s economic development efforts. Right now, Oklahomans and the rest of the country are doing their best to survive a global pandemic and recover from historic winter storms.
Spending money that would help bring businesses and industries to the area would have a greater, more immediate impact than increasing the county jail’s budget by 14 percent.
It’s time for our commissioners to rethink their strategy and shift their efforts toward expanding economic opportunity for every county resident.
Throwing more money at a jail isn’t the way to do that.