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Commission Minutes--November 4, 2002 2528 8. CONTRACT APPROVAL, IBM Corporation; AT&T MOTION, passed Mr. Meyer moved and Mr. Wagner seconded to approve the following contracts submitted by the respective department head, subject to state's attorney approval, and authorize the chairman to sign; On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. IBM Corporation for AS400 computer maintenance; AT&T first amendment to site supplement for renewal of the lease on tower space for county paging. 9. JAIL SAL S TAX, Early termination Mr. Wieland gave some background on the county saies tax, indicating that once the decision was made to build a new jail to replace the 85-year old existing facility, the board studied how to fund the project. Rather than placing the burden on local property taxes, a sales tax was approved by the board of commissioners through the adoption of Ordinance #1 999-1, to collect a one-half cent sales tax over a four-year period. One of the provisions included in the ordinance was that the county commission could, by majority vote of their members, cease the saies tax collections once the amount raised was sufficient to pay all the construction costs, equip the jail, pay for necessary transition, training and operational costs and construct a future addition when it became necessary. The amount needed was estimated at $24 million. In a letter to the board of commissioners dated October 24, 2002, County Auditor Michael Montpiaisir said the county will have collected almost $25 million in saies tax revenue by the end of the first quarter of 2003. The county accomplished their goal and saved over $10 million in interest by paying for the project as money was collected and not paying any interest. MOTION, passed Mr. Meyer moved and Mrs. Schneider seconded to acknowledge the intent of the Cass County Commission in passing Ordinance #1999-1 that the sales tax would sunset at the time sufficient funds were raised to carry out the objectives outlined in the election on the Jail sales tax issue held on April 20, 1999; and to direct the county auditor to inform the North Dakota State Tax Commissioner of the board's decision to end the sales tax collections effective March 31, 2003. Discussion; Former Commissioner Robbie Quick, who was a member of the board when the decision was made to build a new Jail and fund the construction through the use of the sales tax, was present today. She commended the board on completing the project and ending the sales tax in the manner it was intended, both as a constituent and as a resident of Cass County. At the call for the question on upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. 10. TAX-FORFEITED PROPERTY, HearinQ on appraisal County Auditor Michael Montplaisir said this is the date and time advertised for a hearing on the appraisal of tax-forfeited property. He provided a copy of the newspaper publication of the Notice of Saie of Real Estate Forfeited to the County for Delinquent Taxes. Chairman Wieland opened the public hearing and invited comments from anyone wishing to address the board regarding the appraisals for the tax sale to be held at 10:00 AM on November 19, 2002. No one came forward, and the chairman declared the pUblic hearing closed.