DesotoExplorer.com / JoCo to have informational meetings on sales tax referendum

Archive for Sunday, June 29, 2008

Staff reports

June 29, 2008

Johnson County government will have two informational meetings in July regarding the renewal of an existing quarter-cent sales tax for public safety projects and operations.

The first meeting is scheduled Tuesday, July 8, in Conference Rooms A, B and C at the County's Northeast Offices, 6000 Lamar Avenue, in Mission. The second event will take place Tuesday, July 22, in the lower level of the Johnson County Administration Building, 111 South Cherry Street, in downtown Olathe.

Attendees should use the main (east) entrance at the Northeast Building on July 8, and the Cherry Street entrance on the east side of the Administration Building on July 22.

Doors at both meetings will open at 6 p.m. with an open-house format, when attendees can ask questions and speak individually with elected officials and personnel from the Sheriff's Office, Crime Laboratory, and Department of Corrections. Each meeting will include a 7 p.m. presentation by Annabeth Surbaugh, Chairman of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners, and Sheriff Frank Denning.

A time for general questions will follow the presentation; elected officials and County personnel will also be available to speak individually with attendees following the presentation.

If renewed by voters during countywide primary elections on August 5, the County plans to use its share of the total sales tax revenue to:

¢ build and operate a new Crime Lab;

¢ build and operate a Juvenile Services Complex;

¢ fund an ongoing expansion and future operations of the Adult Detention Center at the New Century AirCenter near Gardner, and convert the downtown Olathe jail into a booking facility.

More information about the sales tax renewal for public safety is available by calling (913) 715-0446 or visiting the County's main Web site at www.jocogov.org.