By Matthias Gafni
Contra Costa Times
The days of spoons and forks are over in Contra Costa County’s jails.
Instead, inmate diners get one spork.
Cooks who select their ingredients, now buy day-old bread and bulk produce. Low-fat milk has been replaced with cheaper nonfat.
Lean times are affecting the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office these days, and we’re talking budget, not diet.
The department has made across-the-board cost-cuts, freezing 45 positions, and floated revenue enhancements, such as a 911 user tax, to bridge the mounting deficit
With further cuts expected, the sheriff says he expects fewer deputies will be patrolling, a lower priority for nonviolent crime, leaving vice and narcotic cases with only basic coverage. The 911 dispatchers already take longer to answer calls because seven positions are being kept vacant.
One-time revenue buoyed this year’s budget to land softly in the low-cost realm, but it may get bumpier as a once consistent retiree and transfer trend has slowed possibly due to the poor economy. Further job cuts may not come by attrition alone.
In the next couple of months the county anticipates cutting more into county departments, after hacking almost $112 million since May.
“It is an impossible situation,” Sheriff Warren Rupf said.
Less for more
Rising deputy salaries and benefits have become one of the department’s liabilities, according to the sheriff’s report to the Public Protection Committee.
Since 1999, the cost for a deputy sheriff has risen more than 73 percent. In 2001-02, for $1 million, the county got 9.5 deputies, but today, for the same sum, the county can pay for 5.5 deputies, according to the report.
Since the 1980s, the office moved 130 badge jobs to cheaper nonsworn positions. Since May, it has trimmed $3.3 million by canceling nine positions and freezing 45, including the undersheriff.
The Sheriff’s Office must cope with $6.3 million less in sales tax revenue and $2.8 million less from the cities contract to use deputies as police officers.
With seven dispatch positions vacant, the county no longer meets the state standard of answering 911 calls within three rings or within 5 seconds. A recent three-month sampling saw dispatchers succeed in two-thirds of calls, however, the rest were answered in 31 to 60 seconds, or about 12 rings, according to the sheriff.
Cutting spork
Before contemplating layoffs, Rupf wanted to make sure he streamlined his department.
He implemented a mileage charge for employees not mandated to park their county cars at home saving $65,000 a year. He plans to eliminate 18 gas guzzling vehicles and replace them with hybrids, saving as much as $80,000.
In the coroner’s division, post-mortem toxicology samples will be sent to private labs. In detention, inmates will spend more time in their cells, curtailing overtime costs from staffing visiting hours and other “free time.”
Patrol has restructured beats based on crime analysis to maximize staffing. An online reporting system set to debut this month will enable residents to report minor crimes, freeing deputies to focus on preventive measures.
“We’ve cleared the deck over the little things we could trip over when we discuss how to reduce field services,” Rupf said. “It keeps our focus on legitimate emergencies and even though it’s a small amount of dollars helps keep our core mission as whole as possible.”
911
To calm the budgetary storm, the Sheriff’s Office is looking to raise revenue.
A consulting firm is assessing a 911 emergency responder tax that could provide up to $9.9 million annually to offset Contra Costa’s dispatch costs. The tax would have to be approved by supervisors and then two-thirds of voters in an election.
Other, smaller revenue enhancements include:
A contract for an in-custody drug treatment program could bring inasmuch as $1 million a year.
An expanded alternative custody facility that could increase revenue by $200,000 annually.
The jail cooking staff preparing food for two homeless shelters, generating $175,000 annually.
The county crime lab contract fees will be adjusted to move closer to full cost recovery.
‘Gargantuan budget deficit’
Still, the sheriff has not gone far enough, the county administrator’s office says.
“Clearly, there remains a significant budget gap that must be addressed within the next six months or will exacerbate the County’s already gargantuan budget deficit,” an administrator’s office report states.
To maintain patrol levels and ease the transition, the county gave the sheriff up to $5 million leeway in his budgeting to use one-time funds, including capital project reserves. Those one-time dollars will not be available next fiscal year, so the sheriff will have to reach the agreed-upon $66 million budget with permanent solutions.
“We’re not confident that normal attrition will get them to the $66 million level by the end of the fiscal year. We’re looking for a structurally balanced budget,” senior deputy county administrator Julie Enea said.
Rupf, anticipating a significant number of retirees in March, says his department will hit that number by the end of this fiscal year. If deputies do not retire or leave the department at expected levels and if the county makes further cuts, as expected, Rupf will have to get drastic.
“We’re contemplating in the next couple of months having to do some shocking things,” the sheriff said. “We’ll have to reduce the number of people we have on the street.”
The changes could include shutting down a graveyard shift and deputies forwarding narcotics and vice preliminary reports to the district attorney, without investigation or follow-up time to assist prosecution.
Will the budget decisions affect public safety?
“I believe our ability to provide public safety has been eroded at least the last four to five years,” Rupf said, “and this year we’re beginning to see the manifestation of that erosion.”
Copyright 2009 Contra Costa Newspapers