WINONA, Minn. – Voters approved shifting the cost of the new $28 million Winona County jail to a sales tax. This means that purchases on taxable items will go up .025% — a quarter if a penny – until the debt for the jail’s construction is paid off. The shift was approved 13,600 to 12,200 – or, put another way, 53% to 47%. The County Board hd encouraged the shift to help balance the county’s budget without hiking property taxes.
Showcase detention center. Adjacent to courthouse. Dark in background is jail’s former home in the shared city-county Law Enforcement Center.