WININA, Minn. – The chair of the Winona County Board, Marcia Ward, recognizes the dissonance she faces with her rural voters over borrowing money to finance a new jail. Since first elected to the Board from rural townships in 2002, Ward has argued mostly against tax increases, but now the only viable option is a 50% hike in the county sales tax, from 25% to .75%, to pay off proposed $28 million construction loan for a new jail. “We have to do a lot of PR and a lot of explaining,” as Ward told the Winona Post. The campaign for voter consent to borrow the money will need to be old-fashioned connections with voters – no slick media campaign. State law forbids public funds to promote a ballot issue. Meanwhile, the decision of whether even to put the borrowing issue before voters is up to the Legislature. State law forbids counties from going into debt without state permission.
