Holub, speaking at the commission's Monday meeting, said he finds the statement ambiguous because it doesn't specify whether the city could support another amount, and it doesn't take into account that the county is only discussing financing for the community correction facility, also called law enforcement center or jail.

"We haven't settled on a 1 percent sales tax," he said. "I'm not sure where the figure first came from."

He asked whether Hillsboro might support a 0.5 or 0.75 percent sales tax for the correction center building.

He noted that last year a half percent is "exactly what Hillsboro did for a swimming pool."

Holub referenced a statement from the Free Press where Hillsboro is represented as being a progressive community for voting a half percent sales tax for a swimming park.

"A half percent was called a small investment for the future last year, but something that might kill the business community this year," he said.

"It's my personal view that if it's good enough to finance a swimming pool, it's good enough to finance something we are going to have to have."

Holub said that if the jail situation isn't corrected, outside state agencies will come in within the next three to four years to tell Marion County what it will do because the jail doesn't meet space, health and handicapped requirements.

He said, "They will shove it down our throats, and make the decision for us. When they tell us what we will do, we will have lost all of our options that might have been better choices."

Holub said it has been suggested that the county vote in an eight-mill property tax increase to fund the jail, but that tax also is unacceptable for the county. He said it would be fine if it were the only property tax increase that could happen, but schools, cities and other governmental units also are depending on the property tax.

Holub called the sales tax "the most fair tax."

Holub said one Hillsboro councilman said a lot of county prisoners could be housed in other counties for the $11 million the County Commission wants to spend to build a center that could take money from other counties to house their prisoners.

He contended that everybody would be shocked by the large amounts of money that could be spent, not only for housing prisoners but for bringing them back and forth from other locations for court appearances.

Holub wondered if the same person would be willing to send Marion County school students to McPherson or Newton rather than spend tax dollars for schools here.

Commissioner Randy Dallke said, as exemplified at the informational hearing held on the jail earlier this month, it is the Commission's intent to keep the public fully informed on decisions concerning a jail. He said everybody in Marion County has to be concerned about what will happen.

Dallke said the City of Florence, through its mayor and police chief, has invited the commissioners to examine a nursing home for sale and the land it sets on to see if it might be a suitable site for a corrections center.

Holub said locations for things in the county could change with development of technologies such as the current ability to use video cameras at times in court proceedings.

Commissioner Bob Hein from Hillsboro was absent because of illness.

Holub said county officials are also researching various grants and loans that might help with building a law enforcement center.

For instance, he said Michelle Abbot-Becker, communications and emergency management director, is looking at federal funds that might be available through programs such as homeland security. She may also find funds available to build county facilities that could house federal prisoners, he said.

County Clerk Carol Maggard said other federal agencies may be sources of funding including even the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its financing through Rural Development. She has heard there may be 30- to 40-year loans with interest rates as low as 4 percent.

Maggard had information on one new development that might add valuation to the county tax roll. She said that Jim Prescott of TransCanada Pipeline has notified her that Marion County likely will be in the route of a new crude oil pipeline buried four feet deep along its eastern side.

The line, according to Trans-Canada, likely will average transporting 435,000 barrels of oil daily from its base at Hardisty, Alberta, across the Dakotas and Nebraska to the south Kansas border, where it will branch to Cushing, Okla., and across Missouri to Wood River and Patoka, both in Illinois.

Kansas counties crossed include Washington, Clay, Dickinson, Marion, Butler and Cowley. TransCanada said a pump station will be required every 50 miles to push the heavy crude.

Maggard said she believed the route would roughly go between U.S. Highway 77 and the County Lake road. It would require a 100-foot construction easement and a 50-foot permanent easement.

Prescott told Maggard activity likely will begin with property research in the register of deeds office, proceeding to engineering with actual construction in 2008 and 2009.

David Brazil, planning and zoning, environmental health, and transfer station director, told commissioners a series of letters from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment regarding water testing and compliance at the recently closed Marion County Landfill is being handled by Jack Chappelle, consulting engineer.

He assured commissioners that the entire thing is being handled by Chappelle under the already existing contract, and that it is usual for KDHE's legal department to go through a checklist of regulations versus actions.

Brazil said water-well monitoring probably will be done the most cost effectively by contracting with a company rather than having him do it because of the necessity of laboratory facilities. He guessed that he may be able to the gas-well monitoring.

He would have to show the state regular calibrating of well-check equipment.

Brazil estimated that construction of five or six gas wells and equipment for monitoring the landfill may cost $2,500 a well. The commissioners expect about 30 years of monitoring requirements.

Appraiser Cindy Magill said that when annual valuation notices are mailed March 31, they will reflect a 3 percent upward trend in Hillsboro real estate, but most of the county will remain at the same values as last year. This is as a result of her annual marketing study.

She said residents can expect to see some values go up and others down on an individual basis, but the overall changes are as presented.

The commissioners approved Magill seeking information about installing ceiling fans in the appraiser's office because it stays too warm in its basement location compared to the rest of the courthouse.

The commissioners approved several pricing efforts by Dale Snelling, park and lake superintendent. Snelling said he will price a port-a-pottie for the heated dock at the County Lake because some users of the facility are urinating there rather than walking to restrooms, which creates odor and sanitation problems.

He will also proceed with replacing the worn lake sign with a new one for a little over $500. He will investigate prices for resetting signs that were on U.S. highways 77 and 50 rights-of-way, but sawed off by the county crew during highway construction projects.

Snelling also will check what can be done for repairs on the heated dock exterior, the boat dock and caulking along where the sidewalk that has separated from the lake house footing, allowing water to seep under. He also will seek bids for painting the lake house.

The commissioners accepted a total road and bridge transport fuel bid of $17,310 from Cooperative Grain & Supply of Hillsboro over a bid of $17,325 from Cardie Oil of Tampa.

They accepted a salvage bid of $2,500 from Willard Tractor for a county 1974 Caterpillar road grader in "as is" condition.

They rejected a bid of $6,275 from James Olson for a county Ford dump truck in favor of Road and Bridge Director Jim Herzet reissuing the call for bids with a set minimum price.

Herzet was directed to get final dollars on getting a used chip shredder machine with trade-in value on the current 1968 model to assure a push this year on road surfacing.

The commission accepted a bid of $25.52 per 2.5 gallons container of tree herbicide obtained by noxious weed for road and bridge use, 25 gallons total, from Ag Service Inc. of Hillsboro over bids from Markley Service of Marion for $25.84, and $29.38 from the co-ops at Hillsboro and Tampa.

They approved a bid of $1,110 from Hillsboro Body Shop for repainting the household hazardous waste trailer, over bids from Marion Body Shop for $1,440 and Kevin's Body Shop at Goessel for $2,400.