September 19, 2018 at 4:41 p.m.
Sheriff to county: Increase taxes or cut programs
Hartman says no-increase budgets are not sustainable
Sheriff to county: Increase taxes or cut programs
"Overall, as county board members you should be prepared this year - I've been saying this for five or six years now - but this year I believe more so than ever that you are really going to have to take a hard look at the county's efficiency study and make some hard choices," Hartman said. "We're in our 14th year of zero-percent increases and that's not sustainable forever. You are going to need to take a hard and fast look at some of the lesser programs within the county and make some hard choices on either raising taxes or cutting those programs."
The sheriff department's proposed non-personnel budget for 2019 does show a zero-increase impact to the tax levy, but the sheriff said it is getting harder and harder to do.
According to the proposal, the department would increase its non-personnel budget by $56,574 over 2018, an increase of 4.1 percent, but it would increase revenues by a like amount. Folded within those numbers is an offset of $70,000 in additional state inmate revenues and expenditures.
Overall, the department's 2019 non-personnel expenses subject to the tax levy would be $1,420,976. The biggest percentage change would occur in the investigative division. That line item shows a decline of 27.7 percent, from $48,497 to $35,041, much of that due to a reduction in truancy program expenses.
But it was the longer term that Hartman was focusing on, both in his words to the committee and in a prepared supplemental statement provided with budget documents. And this week, in an email to The Lakeland Times, the sheriff elaborated on what programs might be cut if push comes to shove.
"If I were forced into a situation where we would need to cut, I would take a serious look at the efficiency study that we redid in 2016," Hartman wrote. "I believe I would cut in the following order: 1) Bomb Disposal Unit; 2) DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education); and 3) a combination of reworking the city of Rhinelander dispatch, Northwest Community Policing, and/or Recreational Safety (boat, ATV, snowmobile patrol)."
Hartman said he would be encouraging the county board to take a serious look at the program rankings in the efficiency study to balance next year's budget.
Amplifying the message
In supplemental information included in the budget, the department amplified its concerns caused by growing budget constraints and echoed Hartman's call to review the efficiency study completed in 2017.
So far, it has been so good, the supplemental report stated.
"Our office has continued to cut costs without compromising services," the report stated. "We negotiated a fuel discount with Kwik Trip for substantial savings to multiple county departments. We purchase our oil and vehicle supplies in bulk, which reduces costs."
The report states that the department continues to review and negotiate with medical and catered food providers.
"When we shop for supplies, we obtain cost comparisons," the report continued. "A substantial savings of $5,000 was obtained by reviewing our contract for disposal of biohazards. This helps supplement other growing costs for our office."
Agency officials say they now take their mail to the county clerk for discounted postage.
"We have significantly cut the use of paper by scanning our documents," the supplement continues.
What's more, officials say, the department has added state inmates without adding new staff.
"We purchased a van to transport the state inmates rather than outsource the service," the supplement states. "Training is scrutinized by the leaders to ensure the office receives value in the training. We have two certified CPR instructors that train sheriff's office employees."
The supplement says the agency implemented video visitation to relieve corrections officers from physically moving inmates for visits, which ensures the safety and security of the jail.
"Video visitation also generates revenues and allows family members access more hours of the day," the supplement states.
Finally, the supplement states, with the addition of the mechanic position, the sheriff's office was able to extend the life of existing ambulances, resulting in the agency not having to buy an ambulance in 2019.
When it comes to staff, the agency employs 90 full-time employees and 53 limited-term employees, and officials say overtime remains an issue. In the current year, the department's overtime budget is $542,819; the previous year it was $529,998.
Officials say they try to contain overtime by permitting an alternate work schedule, and by assuring that last-minute time-off requests follow the union contract or sheriff's office policy and procedures. Still, they say, some overtime cannot be controlled because of mandatory training requirements and a 24/7 environment where emergency situations arise.
A fully trained staff would help alleviate overtime, department officials say, but it is a tough employment environment to recruit in.
"Vacancies generate the most overtime and it has been difficult to recruit and retain employees due to competition in the private sector," the supplement stated.
Increasing work load
One major issue is staffing, the department's supplemental report stated. Simply put, officials say they are functioning with the same level of staffing even as the department's workload increases significantly.
"The number of calls for service for Oneida County in 2017 was 41,038," the supplement stated. "Oneida County sheriff's officers responded to over 15,000 incidents."
And the impact of increasing numbers of incidents is felt throughout the department, far beyond the incident or call itself, officials say.
"The increase in those numbers has a trickle down effect because the officer may book a suspect into the jail and will complete paperwork (transcribed reports, DA referrals, etc.) which affects the support staff," the supplement states.
Increasing levels of drug use and addiction are also increasing the workload.
"Methamphetamines, heroin and opioids continue to increase in our community," the supplement states.
Various other factors also add to the workload.
"Technology has also increased the burden of work on the staff due to sexual predators targeting our youth," the supplement states. "We have added safety programs without increasing our budget by creating drone and project lifesaver teams. With the increased scrutiny on law enforcement, the records requests received by the office has substantially increased."
All that said, officials said they had been able to add some new revenues, helping to keep red ink at bay.
"We have added an electronic monitoring program for inmates," the supplement stated. "It is anticipated we will receive $10,000 in additional revenues in our corrections division. In addition, we will utilize our mechanic to assist the Department of Social Services and Buildings and Grounds Department with vehicle maintenance."
All in all, the supplement stated, the department has done a good fiscal job.
"Our budget has decreased or remained the same for several years," the supplement stated. "Due to inflation, costs of products and services have increased. We have expended all of our non-personnel monies the last two years due to the increased cost of doing business."
At the end of the day, the document concluded, the sheriff's office has been able to provide substantial savings in some areas and increased spending in others.
"Our frugal spending habits have allowed our office to return money to the general fund for the last two years," the supplement stated.
Inmate health woes
As reported, the proposed budget for inmate housing includes an expected increase in state inmate expenditures of $70,000 and an increase of $70,000 in state revenues to offset that.
About $15,000 of the increase is related to catered food and about $15,000 is related to increases in jail supplies, but by far most of the cost increase - $40,000 of the $70,000 - is being driven by a spike in medical services for those inmates.
Hartman told the public safety committee that supervisors should expect that those costs will continue to increase because many of the medical issues are drug-related.
"Let's not be surprised when that increases again next year," he said. "We were getting quite a deal. We're comfortable with where we are budgeting for next year, but we are seeing with our meth and opioid addictions - meth right now - those people don't go to the doctor until they come to the jail."
And when they get to the jail, Hartman said, there are some serious medical issues they have no choice but to address.
"We do our best to minimize that," he said. "We work with the judges so if the bonds are appropriate they can go and seek their own medical care. But other times, if it is a dangerous person who committed a violent act and its pre-trial and there's probable cause, that's why the judge has them in jail. We're not releasing them on a signature bond to go take care of their serious medical issues."
Hartman says his department has not really dug down into the data, but he senses that the inmate medical issues are going to worsen.
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