Sheriff's office could face budget ax

The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office could face cuts of 60 percent to 70 percent if voters fail to approve a tax levy next March, or if Measure 47 prohibits such an election.

With revenues cut from $11 million to about $3.5 million, some convicted criminals would not be jailed, deputies would be pulled from the street and public safety would be compromised, according to sheriff-elect Greg Brown.

Most of the $11 million is funded through a special three-year levy which expires on June 30, 1997.

Without the levy most of the sheriff's budget would come from the Deschutes County general fund, and would be allocated at the direction of county commissioners.

The county currently distributes about $2.5 million to the sheriff's office from the general fund, with another $1 million raised through contracts with the Forest Service and other agencies, traffic fines and other sources.

"So if we did not have the levy, the commissioners would have to decide if they would leave the sheriff at $3.5 million or cut other programs such as mental health, public health, or libraries," Brown said.

The sheriff's office has operated on a special levy for 15 years, Brown said, with the exception of a few years in the mid-1980s when the county passed a new and ample tax base. There sheriff's office again went out for their own levy when the pressure of population growth outstripped the county's ability to pay for expanded services.

"The general fund could increase by six percent a year, which took care of insurance increases and inflation, but the requirements of growth outstripped that increase," Brown indicated.

The current three-year levy expires next June. The impact of Measure 47 on the levy election process is still unknown, Brown indicated.

"The one thing we do know for sure is that under Measure 47, in future special elections (such as the March, 1997 levy election) 50 percent of the voters have to cast a ballot for the election to be valid," Brown said.

As to other Measure 47 impacts, Brown said that "there are a lot of theories coming out of Salem right now." Among them is what "public safety" means.

The measure stipulates that "public safety" and education shall be protected. Clearly the sheriff's budget is one involving public safety. Unanswered is whether departments such as county health and mental health qualify as public safety, or if they will feel the budget ax while money is diverted under Measure 47 to other priorities -- such as the sheriff's office.

In any case, the sheriff's office is going to go out for a special levy in March to avoid drastic cuts in the number of deputies and law enforcement capability, Brown said.

"We will probably be sued," Brown said, "but if the public passes a levy that they want public safety, then we should have the right to deliver public safety. Hopefully we will still be able to protect the public while we are in court."