Sheriffs take stock of state budget's impact

Local sheriff’s offices are sharing a sense of relief that the state’s budget won’t require them to lay off deputies.

Sheriffs had been facing a 15 percent reduction in state money for salaries and benefits, as well as cuts in local money used for bullets, badges and other operating costs.

All the while, calls for service are on the rise.

After days of lobbying in Richmond, the reduction in the state’s portion of their budget is down to 2.6 percent.

For Campbell County Sheriff Terry Gaddy, the 2.6 percent cut means he won’t fill three positions left vacant after recent retirements. Under the original proposed cuts, Gaddy would have laid off eight deputies.

“We can only hope and pray that the state’s revenue increases this year,” Gaddy said. “Crime is getting worse, courts are busier, civil process is more because people are having a hard time paying bills. Larcenies, gas drive-offs have accelerated. Our calls for service are up. It’s a difficult time for the state to be gutting budgets.”

The public safety portion of the state’s budget, which was OK’d by the General Assembly but awaits the governor’s approval, restored $47 million that would have been cut to sheriffs and jails in 2011.

It also restores funding to counterterrorism efforts and schools to train Virginia State Police troopers. It provides more than $32 million for local police, but reduces the amount paid to house jail inmates by $2 million and closes one prison.

The state compensation board released allocation numbers for each sheriff’s office earlier this year that reflected proposed cuts as high as 27 percent. Cuts of that magnitude, they said, would damage their ability to prevent crime and would result in sacrifices to services, programs and people.

“Overall, we fared better than most,” Gaddy said.

Gaddy anticipates losing one position by the end of the fiscal year in June. He said he’s also made efforts to reduce the department’s operating costs by keeping the thermostat low to save on the power bill at the office. Deputies no longer leave their cars running when they respond to calls. They are working more directed patrols rather than cruising through the county.

Gaddy said he’s also removed from the budget half of the cars he planned on purchasing.

“We are doing everything we can to be good stewards of the taxpayer’s money,” Gaddy said. “I’ve got to do what I can to make sure my budget is sufficient to operate, but also look out for Campbell County as well.”

Sheriffs also await local decisions on what counties and cities can pay for with their state allotments.

“Honestly, we’re still trying to figure it out,” said Major Ricky Gardner of the Bedford County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Greg Turner of the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office said changes could still be made to the state budget since the governor hasn’t signed it. The county’s supervisors are still determining how to allocate local money.

The Lynchburg Sheriff’s Office functions are somewhat different than those of the other sheriff’s offices. The city sheriff does not handle law enforcement duties but is responsible for court security, civil process, mental commissions and other programs.

Chief Deputy Don Sloan said two of the office’s positions have been kept vacant due to the budget constraints.

“If nothing changes, and there’s no other crisis or anything else, we will be reduced by $40,000 or 4 percent per year for 2011 and 2012,” Sloan said. “Had the budget not changed, we were looking at losing an additional four positions. We’ve been two positions short and we’ve dealt with it.”

Losing more positions will make it difficult to have sufficient security at the courthouses particularly during high-risk trials, Sloan said.

Funding from the city leaves the sheriff’s office short one position and about $26,000 in part-time salaries to cover courthouse security, Sloan said. He said the sheriff has petitioned for some of that money to be restored.
“We try to do our part but it takes people,” Sloan said.