Now that the 2012 Budget has been set for all departments and offices in the county, I have been receiving many inquiries into why I made the decision to remove the security which was provided by the Sheriff’s Office out of the Justice Center.
I believe the best way to inform you of my reasoning is contained in a letter (included below) I sent responding to such an inquiry. Below the letter I have also posted facts about the Sheriff’s Office budget that most people were unaware of or did not realize.
Dear -------,
I agree with you that there can be no price put on the safety of the citizens we serve. That is why I had to make a choice to use the personnel I have available to protect the 52,000 citizens of this county or to protect the 50 to 100 people who work and visit the justice center every day.
I asked the commission not to cut my budget for the third consecutive year, however they advised they were cutting my budget again. Instead of being able to replace Deputies that had left my organization in October and November I was forced into losing those positions along with cutting an additional three positions. I again went to the commission on Jan 3rd and asked that they allow me to keep $49,000 out of the $249,000 they were cutting from the Sheriff’s Office. I told them if they would allow this I would not have to cut any essential services. I also advised them that I would be cutting court security if I needed to cut anywhere. In addition to the $49,000 I requested from the commission, I also transferred $55,000 out of one of my discretionary funds into my operating budget to be able to pay for 1-1/2 people for the year. As well as having the P.A. pick up the salary for one of my detectives for the year. This would allow me to keep things the way they currently were.
On January 11th or 12th, I received notice that the commission had decided to stay with their original figure and not allow me the $49,000. Because of this I have one shift that only has three Deputies on it while the other three shifts have four. I was forced to pull the security from the Justice Center in order to put one of these officers on the road, protecting the 52,000 citizen of this county.
I believe the question should be to the commission, as to why did they deny my request for $49,000, while giving most other departments and offices additional money for raises. Why has the Sheriff’s Office been cut over $1,700,000.00 in the last 3 years? Why Is the Sheriff’s Office down 21 people in the last 3 years? Why is it that every employee of the Sheriff’s Office took a 5% pay cut in 2010, and remained down 5% in 2011 and now again in 2012, while other county employees are getting raises? I believe this should be your questions?
We are struggling to keep our own people safe while still protecting others. We are attempting to help other organizations in any way we can without stretching ourselves too thin. We are trying to do our jobs in the most professional way possible even though we do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. So when you ask (What is it that we can do to not have this change occur?) I'm out of ideas, but willing to listen to whatever suggestions you may have.
Respectfully,
Sheriff Mike Krigbaum
Lincoln County Sheriff's Office
65 Business Park Drive
Troy, Missouri 63379
Budgets 2009 2010 2011 2012
Budget Dollars $5,480,743 $4,558,984 $4,104,877 $3,875,539
Reduction Amt. $ -921,759 -17% $ -454,107 -10% $ -284,338 -7%
Spent $ $5,230,340 $4,383,085 $3,949,506
Under Budget $ 250,403 $ 175,899 $ 155,371
Employees 114 105 93 83
