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45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, January 24, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 24, 2004 Shift in county budget priorities erases old commitments By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune A decision by the Jackson County Budget Committee to boost spending for public safety this week has set the stage for more cuts or increased taxes in the future. The committee, which signed off Friday on a $274,437,141 budget for fiscal year 2004-05, earmarked more than $3 million from reserves and rainy day funds to pay for reopening the Talent jail, increasing the staff at the district attorney’s office, funding the sobering unit and paying for equipment and training at the sheriff’s office. This increased spending runs counter to the urgings of previous committees as well as the county commissioners. "They told us they want $2 million set aside every year in the rainy day fund," said Harvey Bragg, county fiscal director. "We were building up that rainy day fund at their request." This money would have created a fund of about $16 million to help weather the potential loss of federal timber subsidy revenues in 2007. If the extra money hadn’t been earmarked for public safety, the county would have built the fund up to $10.7 million next year. Advertisement Bragg said even without the timber money, the county is heading for fiscal trouble because it has committed to spending $3 million each year in revenues it doesn’t have to keep the Talent jail open and to pay for district attorney staff. "With what they’ve done, we will go into our reserves and be up against it in fiscal year ’06-’07," he said. Last year the budget committee, to help build up reserves, gave the library system $600,000 less than it requested, resulting in reduced hours and reduced staff. "That money we saved from libraries went into reserves and now it’s paying for jails," said Bragg. Tim Alford, a budget committee member, expressed concern during the budget hearings that the jail and other programs could run out of funds in the future. He was also concerned that other programs could suffer if there was a decision to continue the new programs without new revenue sources. "It could totally wipe out other important county programs," he said. Shayne Maxwell, another budget committee member, said, "I support both of these proposals, but I have the same concern about the long-term budget." Budget committee members did discuss the possibility of asking voters in the future to pass a levy to help fund libraries or possibly law enforcement. They are also hoping to put aside $4 million of the proposed $8.9 million sale of county land to Wal-Mart to increase the rainy day fund. County Commissioner Sue Kupillas said the county has done a good job in the past few years putting money aside, but said the budget committee felt that despite Bragg’s reservations, there was enough of a crisis in public safety to warrant the expenses. "We are worried about public safety, he’s worried about numbers," she said. However, she did say that in prior years, the budget committee had pushed for annual increases in the rainy day fund. Also, she said, the committee tried to rein in funding for libraries because their budgets had been increasing as much as 28 percent in recent years. County Library Director Ronnie Budge said she didn’t have any advance notice that the budget committee was going to increase spending on public safety. She didn’t comment on the committee’s decision or its impact on library funding, but said, "It sounded like law enforcement is a high priority for us." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers