Humboldt County Sheriff's budget includes several different sections: patrol, detention, dispatch, 911 enhancement, the Task Force, and Local Emergency Planning Committee.
Sheriff Ed Kilgore presented a proposed budget of $3.48 million, just 0.6 percent higher than last year's budget, at $3.46 million. In his cover letter, the sheriff said the only increases requested in the patrol portion of the budget were directly related to wage increases and contractual obligations with the employees' association.
Two items noted for discussion included overtime issues Kilgore felt might be improved with scheduling changes. County Administrator Bill Deist also wanted the commissioners to take a critical look at the $100,000 yearly vehicle replacement request.
They did and cut the request to the $55,000
In last year's budget, the sheriff was granted four new detention positions based on projected growth in the community that never materialized.
Deist recommended those previously-approved positions be eliminated.
"When you approved those four positions we were in a different economy under different projections," acknowledged Kilgore, adding "the agreement we made back (last year) was to give up one of those positions to help offset the cost of the new central control supervisor position."
Kilgore said he could do without one of the three remaining unfilled positions, but he still needed two of them to ease scheduling and cut overtime costs. Kilgore mentioned the two shooting incidents in the past six months, (which lead to deputies being put on leave until the completion of the investigation into the shooting) and having an employee out on sick leave for an extended time.
He added they are required to send a bailiff to the courtrooms five days a week and the jail now houses an average of 55 to 65 inmates, a higher number than in past years. "We still need two spots now; I want to make sure at least those two positions get filled."
When commissioners asked the sheriff why the previously approved positions had not been filled, he said his office had just been too busy to give attention to the involved process of advertising the positions, doing reference and background checks on applicants and administering the sergeant's test.
Kilgore told the commissioners finding quality personnel takes a big commitment of time and effort, adding that there was no way he wanted to skimp on that effort.
Commissioners Jim French and Marlene Brissenden were in favor of keeping the positions. French noted, "These are positions that we approved last year and if they were filled, we wouldn't be questioning them."
Commissioner Garley Amos said he felt if the sheriff had gotten along without the positions until now, he could continue to get along without them. Amos also pointed out that while overtime costs are not ideal, they are probably less expensive than filling the positions. "We don't have to pay into PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) costs with overtime," he pointed out.
Commissioner Dan Cassinelli agreed with Amos, but reluctantly said he would support hiring for the two positions. "We're going into a slow-down now and we're taking quite a chance to do this hiring."
Commissioner Mike Bell said additional hiring in the past hadn't really affected the overtime situation. Kilgore countered he was confident the additional detention positions would cut down overtime costs for both the detention and patrol divisions.
In the end, the commissioners did not cut the two positions. They advised Kilgore to work hard to fill them before the new fiscal year begins in July.
The dispatch budget was 3.2 percent above last year due to wages and technology. A medical director line item for $60,000 was in the dispatch budget, but Deist and Kilgore noted they haven't seen the contract from Dr. Westin or any indication of what he would do as proposed director would do for that salary. They recommended leaving it in the budget for now, but reviewing prior to final budget approval in June.
Although 911 enhancement was a category of the sheriff's budget, Deist and Kilgore agreed it is still at least a year away. The task force budget includes only the salary of the deputy who works with the task force.
Bell proposed an addition to the sheriffs budget for "First Watch," a software program he said was used all over the country and essential, not just to the operation of dispatch and the sheriffs office, but to every entity that uses dispatch.
Kilgore agreed the program would be great, but said until GIS mapping overlays have been completed, it would be premature to get it.
After considerable discussion and an impassioned sales pitch by Bell, the commissioners said they would look at the program again before the final budget is submitted in June.
Contact Joyce Sheen at j.sheen@winnemuccapublishing.net[[In-content Ad]]
