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| Sheriff's department OT to cost $800,000 |
| By newstrib.com - Kevin Caufield |
| Published: 10/27/2011 |
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La Salle County IL-- La Salle County Board finance committee members scrutinized about $800,000 in overtime expenses within the sheriff’s office budget proposal while Sheriff Tom Templeton defended the anticipated expenditures by describing the county’s overtime situation as “quicksand.” For years, Templeton has argued to whoever was seated on the finance committee that the county’s jail is undermanned and four deputies patrolling La Salle County’s 1,200 square miles of area simply isn’t enough to keep up with demand from the citizenry. Yet, county board members each year question why so much money is needed and seem to remain hamstrung on options to do anything about it. “If money grew on trees, overtime would be nothing because I would have a full staff,” Templeton said. “We’re in quicksand. We can cut shifts all we want but with every contract we can barely keep our heads above water.” This year, the county anticipates passing a budget that calls for $323,000 to be spent on deputy salaries and an additional $500,000 to be spent on correctional officers for the county’s jail. However, Templeton noted that about $40,000 of that overtime would be reimbursed by Federal Emergency Management Agency for those times deputies work overtime in disaster situations. The sheriff’s office has been able to bring in an additional $200,000 annually from its successful process server program. The program involves assigning two deputies to serve warrants, which means the usual four deputies per shift assigned to patrols are free to do just that. Sheriff’s office officials also have tried to cut back overtime in the jail but cutting shifts and other strategies that are not subjected to Freedom of Information Act due to public safety concerns inside the jail. But as the correctional office staff becomes more experienced, which means more pay and benefits such as overtime, sick pay, etc., any savings made by shift cuts are no longer realized. Read More. |
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