Sheriff Concerned About Budget

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Sheriff Concerned About Budget

By KFBB News Team

Story Published: May 13, 2008 at 6:39 PM MST

Story Updated: May 13, 2008 at 6:39 PM MST

Cascade County Sheriff David Castle is asking County Commissioners for more than $11 million for his budget next year. That’s up two million from this year and he wants the public to know why. He says that cutting costs has proved detrimental to public safety in the past. That is something he doesn’t want to see happen under his watch. “Cascade County has been #1 in crime for a couple decades” he told News Channel 5. And over the years the burden officers have faced has drastically increased. “I’m short of deputies…when I was hired in the 80s, we had 40 deputies…now we have 36.” With a shortage of officers, the department routinely has to pay overtime. Scheduled pay raises in 2009 will cost nearly a million dollars. But those are just a few of the demands the department must meet. “Utilities are going up, insurance is going up…I don’t know where gas is going to be” he said. While the county jail is actually making money by charging other counties to hold their prisoners, the state prison side of the detention center is costing the county. According to Castle, the state only pays the Cascade County $49 a day per inmate, but it costs $67 per inmate per day. That means that they are losing $18 a day for state prisoners- something Cascade County taxpayers have to make up for. Negotiating a contract with the state to fix the disparity is a major priority of the Cascade County Commissioners according to Chairman Lance Olsen. Olsen says that public safety is actually the biggest part of the county budget and it’s hard to compare Cascade to counties that get more from the state in property taxes. The Sheriff will receive $800,000 in P-P-L back taxes and that will go for repairs of things like patrol cars and buildings. He is asking for two new positions: a computer technician and a Chaplain. The County is currently reviewing the budget and a decision is expected to take several months.

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