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Otoe County Sheriff Jim Gress says county commissioners’ proposal to cut his budget request will jeopardize his ability to hire another deputy and meet agreements for law enforcement in Syracuse.
He responded to Board Chairman Tim Nelsen's draft budget at a meeting Tuesday, where commissioners considered trimming 5 percent from every elected official's budget requests, except for the sheriff, who is being asked to do with $100,000 less than he is requesting.
Nelsen said the draft budget holds the property tax levy steady, but Gress said it will likely prevent him from replacing a deputy who resigned last winter.
The county hired two additional deputies in 2007, when Syracuse agreed to pay $160,000 a year for deputies, fuel and patrol vehicles, and Gress said the deputy must be replaced to maintain comparable patrol hours.
He said the county saved $60,000 by waiting to fill the position, but said he does not intend to let service in Syracuse suffer.
“It has worked well for Syracuse and it has worked well for us having an office in the middle of the county; the public seems to like it,” Gress said.
Gress said there should be no inconsistencies in the county board's unofficial hiring freeze.
“We are told there is a budget crunch and a hiring freeze, but it appears not to apply to everyone,” he said, asking commissioners if rumors were true that two road employees would be hired.
“If those rumors are true, I would feel let down by the commissioners,” Gress said.
Nelsen said it's true that the commissioners have asked for no full-time hires, but said the board can not tell the elected officials how to run their offices.
He said two new employees are considered for the roads department, but said commissioners are also ready to cut the department's budget request by $275,000.
He said $200,000 would be taken from the rock budget and $75,000 cut from drainage tubes.
“None of us sitting here are happy doing that, but we have to balance the budget,” Nelsen said.
Nelsen said the sheriff's office had three deputies when Gress was appointed 28-years-ago, but his staff has grown to 12 road deputies and two jailers.
He said the sheriff's budget was 12 percent of the overall tax asking 10 years ago, but grew to 29 percent last year.
Nelsen said the sheriff pays overtime to boost deputies' take-home pay.
The sheriff said most of the overtime is earned through extra enforcements paid for by grants from the state Office of Highway Safety.
Otoe County Sheriff Jim Gress says county commissioners’ proposal to cut his budget request will jeopardize his ability to hire another deputy and meet agreements for law enforcement in Syracuse.
He responded to Board Chairman Tim Nelsen's draft budget at a meeting Tuesday, where commissioners considered trimming 5 percent from every elected official's budget requests, except for the sheriff, who is being asked to do with $100,000 less than he is requesting.
Nelsen said the draft budget holds the property tax levy steady, but Gress said it will likely prevent him from replacing a deputy who resigned last winter.
The county hired two additional deputies in 2007, when Syracuse agreed to pay $160,000 a year for deputies, fuel and patrol vehicles, and Gress said the deputy must be replaced to maintain comparable patrol hours.
He said the county saved $60,000 by waiting to fill the position, but said he does not intend to let service in Syracuse suffer.
“It has worked well for Syracuse and it has worked well for us having an office in the middle of the county; the public seems to like it,” Gress said.
Gress said there should be no inconsistencies in the county board's unofficial hiring freeze.
“We are told there is a budget crunch and a hiring freeze, but it appears not to apply to everyone,” he said, asking commissioners if rumors were true that two road employees would be hired.
“If those rumors are true, I would feel let down by the commissioners,” Gress said.
Nelsen said it's true that the commissioners have asked for no full-time hires, but said the board can not tell the elected officials how to run their offices.
He said two new employees are considered for the roads department, but said commissioners are also ready to cut the department's budget request by $275,000.
He said $200,000 would be taken from the rock budget and $75,000 cut from drainage tubes.
“None of us sitting here are happy doing that, but we have to balance the budget,” Nelsen said.
Nelsen said the sheriff's office had three deputies when Gress was appointed 28-years-ago, but his staff has grown to 12 road deputies and two jailers.
He said the sheriff's budget was 12 percent of the overall tax asking 10 years ago, but grew to 29 percent last year.
Nelsen said the sheriff pays overtime to boost deputies' take-home pay.
The sheriff said most of the overtime is earned through extra enforcements paid for by grants from the state Office of Highway Safety.
A cut of $20,000 is endorsed from the WestLaw research resources, but Nelsen's draft budget does not generally propose actual spending cuts.
His draft proposes cuts from increases requested by office holders.
The sheriff's office had a $868,000 budget last year and Nelsen is proposing $951,000 this year.
Nelsen proposes a cut of $50,000 in the jail's request, but the overall budget would still climb from $596,000 a year ago to $648,000.
Commissioner Carol Crook said the $11.7 million draft budget reflects the board's desire to be responsible with taxpayer money.
“We've went line by line numerous times to make sure we are fiscally responsible and still provide services to Otoe County,” she said.
Commissioner Steven Lade said those services include roads. “We've made improvements over the last two and a half years. Almost every county office wants a deputy, but it's not the right time fiscally to do that,” he said.
County Clerk Janene Bennett said the county has authority to increase its expenses by 2.5 percent a year and could meet the levy lid at 45 cents, but is projecting a levy at 33 cents.
Nelsen said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has agreed to $850,000 for disaster relief, but the budget will be tight until that money is actually in the county's bank account.
“They promised us the money in 30 days, but that was five months ago,” he said.
