Countywide : 6 More Cities Seek Slice of Potential Tax

Six more cities have submitted requests for money that would be generated by Measure J’s half-cent sales tax increase if the initiative is passed later this month by county voters.

Orange County will decide Measure J, which is intended to pay for new jail construction, on May 14. But the new requests bring to 10 the number of cities that have already outlined projects they would like to pay for with the potential tax money.

The Orange County Regional Justice Facilities Commission, a group created to distribute the sales tax revenue, is scheduled to consider the new requests at its meeting Wednesday. But the group is not expected to make spending decisions until after the election.

Most of the county supervisors want to use the money for a new jail in Gypsum Canyon. The tax would be expected to generate $134 million per year for 30 years.

All six of the newest requests from cities ask for money for municipal jail cells. Buena Park, Fullerton, Laguna Beach, La Habra and San Clemente all requested money to pay for more cells. Anaheim asked that it be reimbursed for a recent $1.3-million expansion to its jail that added 140 beds.

“The expansion of Anaheim’s jail facility, we believe, has contributed to alleviating the Orange County Jail overcrowding situation,” wrote Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter, an outspoken foe of Measure J and the proposed Gypsum Canyon jail.

Last month, four other cities and the County Probation Department submitted requests for money that would be generated by Measure J. They were Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Brea and Irvine.

The county Probation Department wants to build more cells for juvenile offenders. Chief Probation Officer Michael Schumacher said the county has already had to release some youths before their sentences were completed.