Posted by Heather Rutz on Jan 19, 2018
Commissioners to seek sales tax increase.
Allen County Commissioners will seek a 0.2 percent sales tax increase this year, to fund capital improvements, including needed building renovations and new construction, they said Monday.
Commissioners Jay Begg, Greg Sneary and Cory Noonan spoke Monday to Lima Rotary Club, giving an update on county operations.
The increased sales tax would be limited to 10 years, and earmarked for projects such as renovating the Allen County Courthouse, Allen County Jail, 3rd District Court of Appeals building, and roads and bridges. The commissioners have not included money in the plan for Memorial Hall.
Begg said if the community wants the building restored, it will have to be with community and privately donated funding. A consultant’s study of all county building needs concluded that there is no good public use for Memorial Hall that’s not already provided with another space, Begg said.
Some of the county needs include:
  • A courthouse with a leaking roof that makes much of the fourth floor unusable,
  • A 25-year-old jail
  • A 40-year-old juvenile detention facility
  • Landlocked and out-of-date engineer building and facility
  • Outdated spaces for many other departments.
The commissioners have started some of the badly needed repairs already, especially at the courthouse, where renovations to the clock tower and repairs to the roof have begun already.
The county owns 19 buildings that house 25 different departments. Most of those buildings pre-date 1970.