MOUNT VERNON — With the continued increase in drug-related cases coming through the Knox County court system, it’s no surprise that the largest share of the 2018 general fund budget is allocated toward justice services. Justice services include the sheriff’s office, jail, the courts, public defender and prosecutor’s office.
County Administrator Jason Booth said that the budget for justice services totals $8.2 million, about $325,000 higher than in 2017.
“It makes up about 49 percent of the general fund,” he said. “The sheriff’s budget is about $261,000 higher than last year and makes up around 34 percent of the general budget.”
In November, the City of Mount Vernon officials told the commissioners they were going to change the way the city charges offenders arrested by the Mount Vernon Police Department. It extended the public defender and jail housing contracts for only six months, leaving the county facing a $300,000 loss in revenue, a loss Bemiller said the county wasn’t anticipating.
The increase in the justice budgets includes an additional road patrolman for the sheriff’s office, an additional jailer, a jail nurse and a detective moving from part-time to full-time, and filling an additional assistant prosecutor position.
The Board of Elections budget is $60,000 higher than 2017 appropriations. Commissioner Teresa Bemiller said the BOE had a shortfall in 2017; going into a gubernatorial race in 2018, the commissioners wanted to make sure there was money available to cover any additional state-mandated policies.
“This shows that overall, the general fund has remained flat,” said Commissioner Thom Collier. “The only thing we are seeing [increased] is the judicial system and the board of elections, which is mandated by the state.”
“The budgets were held unless we could see [demonstrated need],” said Bemiller. “We’re holding people to their budget line items and really scrutinizing those accounts.”
As promised during the sales tax hearings, the commissioners set aside $250,000 for capital improvements. Projects include paving and updating automation systems such as heating, cooling and lighting at the service center and sheriff’s office. Bemiller said the cost of capital improvements will be partially offset by the bonds the county sold for that purpose.
The 2018 budget includes $300,000 in contingency funds; Bemiller said the goal is to try and plan for the future.
“If local government funds are cut further, we don’t want to have to cut budgets severely like we did in 2008 and 2009,” she said. “Job & Family Services also isn’t bringing in enough to get by with the number of children they are serving, so we will probably have to give them some extra money. Come November, they will probably need some relief from the general fund.”
The budget also includes a carryover of about $3.5 million to get the county through the first quarter of 2018.
County Auditor Jonette Curry estimates 2018 revenue at $16.655 million. That includes revenue from the increased sales tax (estimated at $3.2 million) that goes into effect Jan. 1. Booth said that of the $3.5 million carryover for 2017, the commissioners appropriated $2.3 million. This year, they anticipate having to appropriate only $90,000 because of the revenue generated from the new sales tax.
The commissioners adopted the budget on Thursday. Booth said each department head had direct input with creating their department’s budget. “I think this is an accurate reflection of budgets,” he said.
