New jails and more taxes

ADAMS COUNTY DESPERATELY needs a new jail. How to pay for it is the rub.

Isn't it always?

The jail is in the Adams County Courthouse. It is terrible and inhumane. And that's just for the people who work there. How it got this bad is a long story, but if I'm on the Adams County Board, or was, I'm embarrassed. The fact nobody has been killed and more escape attempts haven't been made is miraculous. I spent a long winter night at Fourth and Vermont when Jose Olmeda and his buddy Sincere escaped from the joint a few years back, and it was no fun. It did give us front page stories, though.

Right now there are good people making pushes for the sales tax referendum. If it passes, county residents would pay an extra 50 cents for every $200 spent. That doesn't seem like much, but as a small business owner, I'm really tired of our ludicrously high sales tax to begin with. This is a bit separate from the issue, but when are these stuffed suits in Springfield going to realize the higher the taxes, the less people spend? Our sales tax has torpedoed several deals at our business, and now we are going to raise it even more?

So I have a problem with this plan. Yes, we need a new jail. Yes, we need a time machine to smack the people in charge 20 years ago when it should have been done. No, there is no easy way to fund this project.

I'm not sure how I'm going to vote.

All you people out there who smoke meth, break into cars, kill people and break traffic laws - stop it. NOW. Then we won't need a jail or another tax increase.

See how simple it is?