Lincoln County Sheriff's Office budget cut $200,000

A $200,000 hit to the Lincoln County Sheriff Department in the upcoming county budget will result in the removal of as many as two sworn deputies.

The cut is the first definite decision made by the Lincoln County Commissioners on the proposed 2014/15 budget that will be finalized in late August. Commissioners Tony Berget, Mike Cole, and Ron Downey referred to the decision during a budget meeting this week and on Thursday Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe confirmed the cut and said it would mean job losses within the department.

Today is deputy Allen Dye’s last day after Dye volunteered to be the first to go, Bowe said.

There would be further redundancies but it was not yet known how many, or who it would be, Bowe said. All the cut positions would be sworn deputy positions, Bowe added.

This is the second year the sheriff’s department had endured a $200,000 cut. Bowe said this would mean there would be more pressure on existing staff.

“We’ve been prepared for this,” Bowe said. “It is definitely going to mean that there will be some adjustments (in the department). There is going to be a bigger case load for all of us.”

Bowe said the $200,000 was a number that had been negotiated with the commissioners and it was likely that there would be further cuts next year.

Eureka commissioner Mike Cole said the sheriff’s office had come to the commissioners with that amount. Budgets from other departments would be coming in next week and would give the commissioners a better idea of what they would be working with on the finalized budget.

“As everyone knows, the general budget needs looking at,” Cole said, and added that the challenges the commissioners would be facing could be summed up in adding up what the county’s revenue would be and then adding up what would be spent and then figuring out “how to take a stab” at the difference.

More would be known once the mill levy numbers came in on August 1 and after that the exact numbers in the county’s budget would be known, Cole said.

In a budget meeting on Tuesday, the commissioners conferred on more ways further cuts could be made.

“We’ve got to have some serious cuts wherever we can,” said Libby Commissioner Tony Berget.

“Until next week, we don’t have the numbers (to make absolute decisions),” said Lincoln County Clerk and Recorder Tammy Lauer.  “It will be a whole different ball game next week.”