Polk County Question: Sales tax for Sheriff’s office
Published 8:55 pm Thursday, October 8, 2026
With the November ballot approaching, the Polk County question asks voters to consider a countywide sales tax of one half of one percent for the purpose of providing law enforcement services for the county. This tax would be on all sales at businesses in Polk County.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has seen many budget cuts in recent history, and with rising costs of supplies and wages, Polk County Sheriff Danny Morrison urges the citizens of Polk County to get out and vote on the upcoming ballot.
Morrison’s focus is on alleviating the burden on the deputies they have, and adding new faces. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office has 17 deputies currently on staff, and only two deputies working on the overnight shift covering the 642 square mile area of Polk County. “We have less deputies on patrol today than we had 25 years ago,” said Morrison.
“We’ve taken over 8,000 calls for services this year,” said Morrison. “Our average response time is 25 minutes to get to that call. Twenty-five minutes is way too long for a deputy to get to somebody who’s in trouble or in need.”
Morrison believes that this is due to the struggle surrounding hiring and maintaining staff. Due to budget restraints, Polk County is unable to provide deputies with the same wages as other counties and cities, causing Polk County to cut staffing and deputies moving to different locations.
“I’ve got a lot of deputies here and a lot of my staff here that are working two jobs,” said Morrison.
Deputies work a demanding job, and Morrison is worried his staff is cutting themselves too thin when they are forced to work multiple jobs.
Even with staffing issues, Morrison emphasizes that he has retained high quality deputies that love their work and their community.
“We have some of the top deputies of the state and they’re choosing to be here despite the wage and the benefits,” said Morrison. “They’re choosing to be here because they love this community.”
Since 2017, the liability insurance cost to the Department has increased from $23,000 to $124,000. Fuel has increased from $47,000 to $100,000. Costs are rising in areas like water, food, and electricity, and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has not seen an increase in funds to match.
Morrison says that the additional funding will be focused on maintaining the basics needed for the Department.
“We still have a lack of funding for some of the modern-day basics like body worn cameras and in-car computers,” said Morrison. “Another area is in vehicles, we’re buying everybody’s used vehicle. We are going to spend frivolously with tax dollars and retain the deputies we have. We’re going to try to replace the deputies that have been cut or that are no longer with us. We are getting very close to not having enough deputies to provide 24-hour-coverage in the county.”
Morrison believes that having new and improved equipment along with more staff will cut down response times, giving the citizens of Polk County more peace of mind.
In 2025, the Use Tax was proposed to Polk County voters, a tax that would be applied on online purchases. This tax was voted down, but the new Polk County Question applies to all sales purchases, and has more specific language regarding its application to law enforcement services.
The voting will take place on the November 4 Ballot. If approved, the sales tax will take effect April 1.
