Funding Approval for New Beltrami Co. Jail Could Take Months to Obtain

At the latest Beltrami County Board meeting, commissioners and area legislators learned that funding for the county jail project could take months to even begin.

With the Minnesota Legislative session back in full swing, Beltrami County is hoping that their lobbying efforts will result in a new revenue source for the jail project through a local option sales tax. That would be used instead of a 22% increase to property taxes.

If approved, the county is looking at adding about 5/8 of a percent to the already existing half-cent sales tax. But approval from the state legislature is needed to move forward with this choice.

“[From] the county board and the community via a variety of survey results and conversations, in large part we have about 65% or 66% suggested interest in going after the local option sales tax,” said county administrator Tom Barry to the Beltrami County Board. “And so in order to do that, as you know, we would need to go through the state legislature to get approval to place a question on the ballot on the general election, which we intend to do with your approval later this year in November of 2023.”

If the timeline for the jail project is followed and a local option sales tax is pursued, the groundbreaking on a new jail will most likely happen in the spring of 2025.