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| Court Gives Funds to Keep Jail Open |
| By The Baxter Bulletin |
| Published: 11/07/2005 |
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High gasoline and diesel prices are driving up Arkansas budget projections in Baxter County for 2006, and those same gas prices nearly drove the Baxter County Sheriff's Department into hibernation this month. The Baxter County Quorum Court passed an emergency ordinance last week to give the Baxter County Sheriff's Department an additional $90,000 to complete its 2005 budget. Baxter County Judge Dan Hall said without the money, the sheriff's department would have been forced to shut down within weeks. "This money had to be appropriated in order for us to get through the year," Hall said. The money was moved from the Baxter County General Fund to the sheriff's line-item budget. Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said the $90,000 should have been in the sheriff's budget to begin with. More than $30,000 in police fines, $20,000 in jail fees, $4,600 in inmate commissary fees and other fees collected were placed in the Baxter County General Fund. Exploding gas prices inmate medical expenses and officer overtime pushed the sheriff's department's budget into the red. Hall said an emergency clause was added to the ordinance because the sheriff's department would have run out of money before the next budget meeting. Budget Committee members are mulling over the proposed 2006 budgets for several government entities. Each of the budget requests has a common theme more money for fuel costs. Hall asked the quorum court at the Budget Committee meeting Wednesday evening to increase the Baxter County Road and Bridge Department budget from $2,694,304 to $3,342,047, a difference of $647,743. More than $320,000 of the increase is for fuel. "We can't cut fuel costs like the police department," Hall said. "A police chief can tell his officers not to drive as much, but even if they're sitting beside the road, they're still having an effect on law enforcement. If I have a guy sitting in a grader with no fuel, I have a statue." Hall also asked for a $366,500 increase in road-building expenditures. He said multiple roads in subdivisions throughout the county are falling apart, and if they're not fixed, the county will be forced to build new roads. Office of Emergency Management Director Tom Fischer asked the Budget Committee for a $28,900 budget increase for the E-911 Department. He said the bulk of the increase, $26,400, is a budget oversight from last year. The 2006 budget is slated to be finalized next Wednesday by the Budget Committee. The budget is scheduled to be voted on at the December quorum court meeting. |
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