CANTON: Stark County voters will be asked to pass a 0.5 percent sales tax in the general election Nov. 8 or face drastic cuts next year.The sales and use tax, which would run for eight years, would raise money for criminal justice and administrative justice services. Targeted to receive the funds would be the sheriff, prosecutor, coroner, courts, county clerk of courts, municipal clerks of courts, the Stark Council of Governments and the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System.Expenditures in those areas represent about two-thirds of general fund spending.“Our concern is the protection of the safety of the people of this county,” said Commissioner Peter Ferguson.Without the sales tax, the capacity of the county jail would drop to about 100 beds, said Commissioner Thomas Bernabei. Prisoners have already been released due to diminished inmate holding capacity.“We need to restore the jail,” Bernabei said.Without the sales tax, budget cuts for 2012 would be about 40 percent in areas supported by the general fund, he said. Those reductions would come from a budget already reduced 16 percent in the last two years.Stark has the lowest sales tax of any county in Ohio – collecting 0.25 percent for the Stark Area Regional Transit Authority plus 5.5 percent for the state. If the 0.5 percent tax is approved, Stark would remain among the three counties with the lowest sales taxes. Two others have 0.5 percent sales taxes.A 0.25 percent sales tax, which had funded county operations, expired July 1 after being in force for eight years. A 0.5 percent sales tax imposed by county commissioners in 2008 was repealed by voters in November 2009.If the new tax is approved, collection would begin April 1.The tax is projected to generate $22 million a year.One benefit to Stark County residents is that 35 percent to 40 percent of the total sales taxes collected in the county is paid by shoppers who live elsewhere, Ferguson said.Officials say factors contributing to the need for the tax include state budget cuts that will cut in half the $5.5 million the county received this year in the local government fund. The money supports the Stark Council of Governments, which operates a crime lab and countywide narcotics law enforcement.Commissioner Janet Weir Creighton said that if the sales tax is passed, county officials must still be held accountable and not treat the situation as a “credit card” or a “free-for-all.”Creighton said commissioners will now turn their attention to developing a campaign to pass the tax.A challenge will be gaining the trust of voters after the theft of $3 million from the county treasurer’s office.The case ended in 2010 with the conviction of former chief deputy treasurer Vincent Frustaci, who admitted taking $2.46 million.To date, the county has recovered about $1.28 million of the loss though bonds, insurance and other means.