The potential for some fireworks earlier this week fizzled when a large crowd gathering for the Marion County Quorum Court meeting heard there are no plans to cut sheriff’s department personnel. The large gathering, County Judge John Massey estimated at 200 people, was fueled by public statements by Sheriff Clinton Evans late last week sounding the alarm proposed budget cuts would lead to the loss of nine to 10 employees in his department.
In a press release and a Facebook post, Sheriff Evans said during a recent quorum court budget committee meeting, action was taken to cut 10% from his department’s budget. The cut reflects a reduction of $152,000.
Evans said after making the cut, Justice of the Peace Talon Vancuren directed an additional reduction of $158,000.
Evans said the second cut would impact personal services to the point of losing nine to 10 employees, ranging from jailers to administration and deputies.
Judge Massey tells KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot news work continues to address the county’s budget shortfall, with no plans to cut employees.
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County officials have struggled to address the shortfall since early in the year by first attempting to move funds within line items to address a deficit of $590,000. Minutes from a budget committee meeting note a number of reasons given for the shortfall. The reasons include over-projected revenues, raises to employees and having budgeted carryover twice.
The efforts to address the shortfall by cutting expenses began in late April, when Massey stepped forward saying there would be a cut of 10 hours per week for those employees reporting to him. He said he anticipated other departments taking the same step.
But he said this week every department except the sheriff’s office had made 10% reductions.
Massey says, Tuesday morning, members of the quorum court budget committee met with personnel from the sheriff’s office and identified roughly $100,000 in cuts. Massey says Sheriff Evans was not among those in the session and did not attend the quorum court meeting, saying he believed he had something else he had to do and would not elaborate.
Because of the timing of the session on Tuesday morning and the court meeting that evening, a revised budget could not be completed for consideration by the justices.
Instead, he says the budget committee will be meeting soon, with a special quorum court session to be called to act on a revised budget.
Since then, a meeting of the Marion County law enforcement committee has been set for Wednesday evening at 5:30. That notice was followed by a second one advising the quorum court’s budget committee will meet on Thursday evening at 5:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held in the Marion County Courthouse Annex.
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