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Challenges of the
County Budget
Posted 8-22-2006
The challenges of
managing the county's budget are often complex and sometimes
contradictory. They are complex in that everything we provide is a
mandated service, except operating a network of county parks that the
citizenry seems to appreciate greatly. The contradictory nature of our
budget is that as taxpayers have demanded stricter laws from their
legislators in Harrisburg, there is an associated cost that eventually
increases their county taxes to pay for the enforcement of those laws.
When I write of the
enforcement of the laws from Harrisburg, I am not suggesting the
county's Park Police carry out that enforcement as they only patrol and
protect county property. Law enforcement, as we most commonly recognize,
is carried out by municipal police departments or the State Police. But
once a person is arrested, that is where county government becomes
involved. The accused likely is held in the county jail until trial and,
if convicted, possibly sentenced to the county jail. The prosecution is
carried out by the District Attorney's office with a staff of attorneys
and detectives that are county employees. The defense in many cases (if
a defendant cannot afford counsel) is carried out by the Public
Defender's office. People convicted and sentenced to probation are
served by county employees, either from the Adult or Juvenile Probation
offices. The Sheriff's Department is responsible for not only serving
warrants, but also courtroom security and prisoner transport. The Clerk
of Courts office, made up entirely of county employees, manages the
associated paperwork for the criminal court system. And though
Magisterial District Judges and Common Pleas Court Judges, who are all
employees of the Commonwealth, hear the cases, their staffs are
comprised of county employees.
When added together, one
can see a growing burden on county taxpayers. Even though we do receive
some compensation from the Commonwealth for the staffs of the Common
Pleas Court, that compensation does not cover the cost of those staffs.
We receive some money from Harrisburg for the operation of both adult
and juvenile probation, but the county taxpayers must pay a portion of
those operations too. Offenders pay a supervision fee, and we collect
some "rent" from inmates at the county jail, but it still comes down to
county taxpayers footing the largest part of the bills.
We did some analysis this
summer using the county's Consolidated Annual Financial Report (CAFR)
that provides audited numbers for past county budgets. The base year we
used was 1994, the year before I was first elected and the final audited
numbers we have are for 2005. The numbers I am sharing with you are not
to be meant to be a negative reflection on the elected officials running
these departments, or the employees, but rather financial evidence of
the ever-growing demands for more service and the rising costs of
operation. And frankly, the very nature of the structure of county
government leaves the details of figuring out how to pay the bills to
the commissioners.
The cost of operating the
District Attorney's office has increased 71 percent from 1994 to 2005,
from $2.126 million to $3.642 million. At the same time, the Public
Defender's operations have increased from $736,000 to $1.22 million, a
66 percent increase. The minor judiciary, the Magisterial District
Judges' budget (excluding Magistrates' salaries and benefits that are
paid by Harrisburg) has increased from $2.075 million to $3.453 million,
also an increase of roughly 66 percent. At the same time the direct cost
of operations for the 11 Common Pleas Court Judges (excluding their
salaries and benefits) has increased from $3.329 million to $4.570
million, an increase of 37 percent.
The Coroner's office,
responsible for examining accidental or suspicious deaths, has
experienced an increase of 84 percent from $394,000 back in 1994 to
$727,000 in 2005. The Clerk of Courts office, which must maintain this
growing inventory of criminal court records, has experienced a budget
increase from $670,000 in 1994 to $1.140 million in 2005, a 47 percent
increase. The Sheriff's department, which must serve more warrants,
transport more prisoners, and provide courtroom security, has seen a
large increase in costs. In 1994 the office spent $1.357 million, and in
2005 spent $3.484 million, an increase of 157 percent. The county
prison, which houses inmates waiting for trial and those with shorter
sentences, has seen its daily population increase from the mid-400 range
to more than 600. And as expected, its costs have risen from $6.626
million to $12.547 million, an increase of 89 percent.
Without making you too
dizzy with statistics, the numbers for Adult Probation are the single
largest increase in the criminal justice system. In 1994 Adult Probation
spent $1.778 million, and in 2005 spent $5.311 million. That increase is
199 percent. Within those costs though are efforts to keep inmates out
of traditional incarceration. Those efforts have helped significantly to
keep prison population from increasing even more. Even Juvenile
Probation has seen an increase of 102 percent in that period, from
$1.193 million to $2.406 million. The eventual placement of juvenile
offenders in secured treatment facilities is also a costly matter. In
1994 we spent $4.790 million, and in 2005 spent $10.693 million, an
increase of 123 percent. Making matters worse for the county is that we
previously paid about 20 percent of placement costs, but in the last few
years our county burden has increased to 33 percent of that growing
number.
You may wonder what cost
increases have been in offices not related to the criminal justice
system. The combined cost for the three Commissioners' offices along
with the Chief Clerk and assistant have increased from $560,000 in 1994
to $667,000 in 2005, an increase of 20 percent. The Controller's Office
has been the same, roughly 20 percent from $1.092 million to $1.308
million. Information Systems has seen a 38 percent increase in that
period, Human Resources only 14 percent. And the most remarkable is our
Financial Administration department, where we have fewer employees than
11 years ago, has decreased from $352,000 to $211,000, a 40 percent
reduction.
These numbers may be
slightly numbing, but I am sharing them with you to emphasize a point.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania lays out our mission. We do not look to
take on new and costly tasks, but we must fulfill the responsibilities
imposed on us by your representatives in Harrisburg. If the
court-related and prison numbers surprise you, remember that the reason
the Legislature passes new criminal laws is that voters demand them.
Nationwide, we already incarcerate more people per capita than any other
industrialized country in the world. So while we remember the old adage,
"crime doesn't pay", indeed someone must pay for its enforcement and
disposition. And for the most part it won't be the person committing the
crime; it will be the law-abiding taxpayers.
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