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| Sheriff: Gas Costs Pose Budget Problem |
| By Stevens Point Journal |
| Published: 10/03/2005 |
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The increased cost of gasoline and the shipping of Wisconsin prisoners from the Portage County jail to other sites are the biggest challenges to hammering out the Sheriff's Department budget for 2006. Like other county departments, the department has been asked by the finance department to submit its 2006 budget with a zero percent increase, said Chief Deputy John Graettinger. This is due to Wisconsin Act 25, which was passed by the state Legislature in July and limits the tax increase to new growth in a community, according to Bo DeDeker, county finance director. The proposed fuel increase for operating the 35-vehicle fleet alone is $93,000, for a total of $195,000. Vehicles include squad cars, unmarked cars, an inmate transportation van and a converted ambulance used by the Special Response Team, or SRT. The department also owns a boat, snowmobile, ATV and 6-wheel off-road vehicle, among others. Shipping and housing inmates in the jails of other counties is budgeted for $372,000 this year, Graettinger said, and the department will very likely spend more than that figure. Next year's line item for that will be $488,000, an increase of $116,000 more than this year. The department burns 60,000 gallons of fuel through its patrol of the county's 800 miles of roads and its 51,000 miles of prisoner transportation every year. This includes shipping inmates back and forth to other counties for housing, transporting inmates to mental health facilities for checkups and picking up prisoners wanted on warrants who are apprehended outside of Portage County. Many deputies have part-time roles on specialized units within the department. These include the dive team, SRT, a Field Training Unit, which trains new officers, and the Technical Accident Reconstruction Team, used to collect the details of a major automobile accident, among others. "There are so many things these guys can do, over and above their base line work," Graettinger said. About $900,000 is gained in revenue every year through a number of sources. "We charge our inmates to stay at the jail," he said. Inmates pay a $30 processing fee and $17 a day to stay at the jail once they've been convicted. Their phone calls are also charged to them, with that money used for their medical needs. Individuals on home monitor must pay a $30 hook up fee and an additional $13 for every day they are on the system. Portage County charges other counties who house their juvenile offenders at its facility, Graettinger said. Deputies are also used for civil processing, or serving legal papers to individuals being sued, which also generates a fee. |
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