Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan is campaigning for a 0.4-cent sales tax to fund a new jail. Fellow Commissioner Jason Lowe calls the plan "reckless," and the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber has not taken a position.

Voters will decide the measure on Tuesday, Nov. 3. If approved, the tax would generate about $70 million a year and roughly $600 million over 25 years to build and operate an 1,800-bed detention facility at 1901 E. Grand Blvd. in southeast Oklahoma City. The project carries an estimated $860 million price tag.

"Well, I'm just pleading with the voters to please vote for this," Maughan told KOCO on Oct. 1.

Maughan, the longest-serving current commissioner, noted that commissioners cannot spend taxpayer money to advocate for the proposal. He said he has been meeting with county leaders and stakeholders to build support.

The chamber, which backed the county's $260 million bond package in 2022, said it is still in discussions with stakeholders.

Lowe, the District 1 commissioner, voted against placing the tax on the ballot when the commission split 2-1 on Aug. 12. He has sharpened his criticism since then.

"I think it's a reckless plan. Actually, there is no plan with the sales tax proposal," Lowe told KOCO. "We are currently under two audits from the state of Oklahoma. We have no idea how much money we have in our bank account."

The county's reserve fund turned out to hold about $3 million, roughly $11 million less than the $14 million reported in the spring, according to NonDoc. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) has opened a criminal probe into a former County Clerk's Office employee terminated for embezzlement. Commissioners voted 3-0 on Sept. 18 to request a limited audit of the county's fiscal year 2025 budget.

Maughan has argued the accounting problems are unrelated to the jail tax. Speaking to reporters after a Sept. 16 commission meeting, Maughan said the discrepancy was an accounting error and that officials don't believe any money is missing.

Lowe's opposition predates the audit. When commissioners voted in August to place the measure on the ballot, he called the phased construction approach "reckless, knowing they didn't have the funds to finish the construction on the remainder of the new facility, much less operating costs," according to NonDoc's Aug. 12 report.

In 2022, more than 59 percent of Oklahoma County voters approved $260 million in property-tax-funded bonds for the jail. That amount proved insufficient. Construction on the first phase is underway.

The tax would cost shoppers an extra 4 cents for every $10 spent in Oklahoma County, KOSU reported. Of the $70 million in projected annual revenue, $44 million would cover debt service and $26 million would fund jail operations, according to Citizens Bond Oversight Committee Chairman Steve Mason. The tax would run from April 1, 2027, through March 31, 2051.

Oklahoma County is the only one of the state's 77 counties without a sales tax. The new facility would include 368 beds for detainees with mental health challenges. Since the Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority took over jail operations in July 2020, 60 people have died at the current facility.

Del City and Midwest City officials have previously opposed any county sales tax, citing concerns about the jail's impact on their communities.