Investing in Public Safety
and Inmate Rehabilitation
On the Ballot: How to Pay for the New Winona County Jail
Winona County is committed to providing essential public services and facilities that support the quality-of-life residents expect and deserve.
That is why the county invested $28 million to build a new jail—The Winona County Detention Center—that recently opened in December 2023. The new facility replaced the former outdated jail that the Department of Corrections closed in 2018 because it couldn’t meet the basic needs of inmates and law enforcement.
The New Jail
Currently, the newly built jail is being financed by the county’s existing property tax levy. Like other counties across the state, Winona County is proposing a quarter-cent (0.25%) local sales tax to replace the property tax as the funding source for the new facility.
The County Board proposed a sales tax option, so that homeowners, landowners and commercial property owners wouldn’t bear the entire cost of the jail. A local sales tax would spread the cost among residents and nonresidents who make purchases in the county.
If the sales tax is approved, the county board will lower the preliminary property tax levy for 2025.
According to a study by the University of Minnesota, Winona County residents would pay an average of $1.22 per month, or $15 per year, for the local sales tax.
Essential goods are exempt from sales taxes, including clothing, groceries, medications and many agricultural products.
This website was designed to provide Winona County residents with information about the sales tax referendum to fund the construction of the new jail.
The only remaining question is how to pay for jail, and the county is asking voters to decide.