A budget shortfall discussed for months in Marion County has reached the point Sheriff Clinton Evans went public late last week sounding the alarm of proposed cuts leading to the loss of employees and impacting law enforcement services.
In a press release and a Facebook post, Sheriff Evans says during a recent quorum court budget committee meeting, action was taken to cut 10% from his department’s budget. The cut reflects a reduction of $152,000.
The cut to the sheriff’s budget comes after County Judge John Massey stepped forward in late April saying those employees reporting to him would have their hours cut by 10 hours per week.
He told KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news then he anticipated other departments taking the same step.
The reduced hours were planned to begin May 10 and continue until August. At that point, the budget would be reviewed again.
Even earlier the court was taking steps to address the shortfall. Minutes from the March quorum court meeting reflect an attempt to move $225,000 from the county building improvement line item to county general to cover the anticipated shortage until the 2019 taxes are collected. Eventually, the court would settle on moving a reduced amount to county general.
But these steps have not been enough.
Minutes from a budget committee meeting in late July note the county had a deficit of $590,000, with a number of reasons given for the shortfall. The reasons included over-projected revenues, raises to employees and having budgeted carryover twice.
In that same committee meeting, Justice Talon Vancurren offered six steps to address the shortfall: cutting all office budgets by 10%; raising taxes; moving funds from other offices to the sheriff’s; cutting staff if other options failed to address the deficit; forcing offices with special accounts to utilize those funds; and closing the county jail and transferring inmates to other locations.
Sheriff Evans told the committee closing the jail was not an option, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, the county’s inmates might not be accepted at other locations. He also noted, the housing costs and transportation to court, medical appointments and various other reasons would quickly deplete any savings.
Evans says in his message to the public last week, after finalizing the cut of $152,000 from his budget, Vancurren directed an additional reduction of $158,000.
He says he explained the first cut impacted his department’s budget significantly, trimming the operational funds down to bare bones.
He says the second cut will impact personal services to the point of losing nine to 10 employees, ranging from jailers to administration and deputies. He says further that these cuts will “dramatically affect and hinder services to the people of Marion County.”
He goes on to ask county residents to become familiar with this proposal the budget committee plans to present to the full quorum court for consideration Tuesday evening. Evans encourages county residents to contact their justice of the peace to “let them hear your thoughts and feelings to maintain safety in our community.”
Tuesday’s quorum court meeting is set for 6 in the second floor courtroom of the Marion County Courthouse.
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