Boone County Commission votes to put jail sales tax on November ballot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to put a 3/8-cent sales tax on the November ballot.

Sheriff Dwayne Carey appeared before the commission last week to make his pitch for the tax. The commission was initially considering it for the August ballot, but moved it to November at Carey's urging after the City of Columbia put a 1-cent sales tax for public safety on the August ballot.

The primary purpose of the Boone County tax is to pay for a new jail. Boone County Auditor Kyle Rieman estimated that, based on current 1/8-cent collections from 2025, the tax increase would generate at least $17 million annually.

According to prior reporting, it cost over $2.5 million in 2025 to house inmates. It cost around $499,000 for housing in 2022.

Boone County is paying to house about 180 inmates outside of the county. According to prior reporting, the cost to house out-of-county detainees from January to March this year was around $1.12 million.