State sending checks, but budget angst persists in Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin said there are only two things in this world that can be certain — death and taxes. With the growth of Limestone County comes the growth of a taxpaying population, but it also comes with an increase in deaths, according to Limestone County Coroner Mike West.

To that end, he has added a request for the money necessary to purchase three movable body coolers. This request was included in the budget presented to the Limestone County Commission for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

“Presently, there is no county morgue or facility to house bodies when the family does not have a funeral home choice or a location to hold bodies when family cannot be located,” West wrote in a budget request sheet for the commission. “In the past, we have rotated between the funeral homes in Limestone County monthly and this has worked well. However, several of the local funeral homes no longer allow their facilities to be utilized for bodies when the family did not request their services.”

West said in June and July of this year, he had several occasions in which coolers were required for holding bodies, including one incident in which he needed to store five bodies over a two-day span.

Currently, there are two coolers available for the coroner’s use, but one of them is not working, he said.

“This is not acceptable as there are now requirements that all bodies that are not embalmed must be kept in a cooler after two days or 48 hours,” West wrote. “… The coroner’s office needs a place to place and/or hold bodies in the county to ensure that the county does not develop a liability due to not having a place to store bodies that are under the county’s jurisdiction until a next of kin can be found.”

West suggested the county look into either purchasing coolers to be stored at two funeral homes and Athens-Limestone Hospital or into building a county morgue that could store at least nine bodies and include a prep room and office for meetings or storage. Either way, he said, an investment from the county would be required.

“We are at the level of growth that this needs to be addressed before we have a major issue with this subject,” West wrote.

He estimated the cost of the coolers to be $20,100, or $6,700 each for a cooler on wheels that could store up to three bodies.

The total budget request for the coroner’s office came to $97,222, an increase of $15,334. West asked that his $500 photo processing budget be deleted since cameras no longer require film. However, due to camera malfunctions, he asked for an additional $200 over last year’s photography supply budget to cover the cost of a new camera. He also requested money for a laptop computer that could be used to file coroner reports in the field.

Sheriff’s Office

The Limestone County Sheriff’s Office also mentioned growth in its budget request. The office requested about $4.73 million for next year, an increase of $159,177.08. Included was a request for five new patrol cars.

“It is the goal of the sheriff’s office to update five vehicles in the current patrol fleet, so the department can effectively carry out the duties which it has been vested in, such as crime prevention and responding to calls for service,” wrote Limestone County Chief Deputy Fred Sloss. “We would like to begin to replace patrol units with more than 150,000 miles in the current fleet to ensure deputies’ and the public’s safety.”

In the current fleet, Sloss wrote, there are 10 vehicles with more than 150,000 miles. Sloss said the department requested five vehicles in 2017 but received none that year and only three in 2018.

“Without the purchase of some new patrol units, the quality of service provided to the citizens of Limestone County for the past 36 years will begin to decline,” Sloss wrote, adding the department averages 13,000 calls, 12,000 served papers and 3,000 arrests per year — all requiring the use of patrol cars.

According to the proposed budget, the new vehicles would cost $32,000 each for a total of $160,000. The budget request also includes $26,000 toward equipment for the new vehicles, such as laptop computers, printers, modems and antennas.

County jail

The Limestone County Jail requested $4.27 million for 2018-2019, an increase of $268,317.99. The budget included requests for new kitchen and laundry equipment, the replacement of the existing intercom system, the installation of a water softening system to combat damage from limestone buildup in the plumbing and an ankle monitoring system that would allow inmates to be released temporarily to seek medical attention.

“The inmate’s location would be known always,” according to the accompanying written justification. “The cost of the monitoring would be minimal compared to hospitalization and visits to a specialist. A contract with Tracking Solutions, a company that is already established with Limestone Juvenile Probation, is an option that we have researched.”

The estimated cost of this contract would be $7 per day per monitoring unit when active and $1.50 per day per additional disabled unit for future use. The budget request included $5,000 to cover the cost.

Sloss also included a narrative justification for the hire of another administrative clerk at the sheriff’s office. He wrote that on any given day more than 150 calls are received to the front desk that go to any of 55 different extensions. There are also about 75 walk-ins each day who must be helped, and new legislation requiring more thorough background checks for pistol permits “has placed a tremendous burden on our receptionist.”

“There was a time when the receptionist could handle all these tasks, but with constant changing requirements it is no longer feasible,” Sloss wrote.

The jail requested $50,751.23 to cover the cost of the employee’s salary and benefits.

Blakely’s other budgets

Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely presented three other budgets to the commission. For Limestone County Animal Control, $220,312.31 was requested, marking an $8,435.31 increase over the current budget.

For school resource officers, a budget of $707,431.25 was requested, marking a decrease of $99,831.75 compared to the current budget. The courthouse budget request came to a total of $293,092.77, an increase of $76,478.77 over the current year.

Finally, the budget request for the work-release program was $97,976.70, or $2,798.30 less than the current year.

Archives

The Limestone County Archives requested $171,216.04 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, an increase of $5,241.44. Archivist Rebekah Davis asked for $5,218.64 toward the purchase or replacement of equipment, including new shelving units and a laptop computer.

“The Limestone County Archives needs to replace badly sagging, overloaded shelving units that currently house permanent record books,” Davis wrote. She requested six industrial-strength shelving units at a cost of $450 each plus shipping, for a total of about $3,000.

She said the archives also needs a wireless handset so that archivists can pull or reference records while on the phone with patrons. A laptop computer would allow them to be more compatible with modern audio/visual equipment and thus make them better able to work outside of the office.

Council on Aging

Susan McGrady prepared four appropriations request forms on behalf of the Limestone County Council on Aging for a total budget request of $931,110 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. This is $49,157.77 increase over the current year.

Included in the budget was $13,010 to cover the cost of eight replacement computers at the senior centers, the replacement of 15 office telephones and license renewals for Microsoft Office. McGrady also asked for funds to hire two additional part-time van drivers for COA.

“Our drivers provide transportation to Limestone County seniors for daily center activities, field trips, doctor visits and shopping,” McGrady said. “They deliver hot and frozen meals to homebound seniors in Limestone County. They assist at the senior centers with meal preparation, cleaning, fundraising activities, outreach and recruitment of new participants.”

COA currently employs three full-time drivers and two part-time drivers. McGrady said her request for funds is based on each employee working no more than 20 hours per week, with beginning pay for the position at $11.38 per hour.

Recycling

Ruby McCartney, plant manager for the Athens-Limestone Recycling Center, sought no change in her budget from the current fiscal year to the next except for $20,000 to purchase a used pickup truck for the facility.

“Unit 797, an ’08 Ford, currently has over 290,000 miles on it, and we spent $3,418.40 on it this year,” McCartney wrote in her request. “If possible, we would like one with the same size bed so we can exchange out the cage without having a lot of modification expense.”

McCartney thanked the commissioners and commission staff for their support of the recycling center.

“The fact that you realize how important the services that the Recycling Center provides to our community means so much to me personally,” she wrote. “Your willingness to help us when we need it does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. We would not be able to provide the services that we do to our community without your help and continued support.”

EMA

Limestone County Emergency Management Association requested $263,591.35 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, an increase of $13,202.15. The proposed budget included a request for $52,450.28 toward equipment cost.

EMA Officer Daphne Ellison listed $700.28 toward a VHF radio for the EMA’s mobile command trailer, $1,750 to mount a 35-kilowatt generator onto the trailer and $50,000 for renovation and repairs, such as enclosing the front stairwell of the Limestone County Emergency Operations Center and replacing the EOC’s awning and gutters.

Revenue commission

Limestone County Revenue Commissioner G. Brian Patterson presented two budgets. For the Appraisal Department, Patterson asked for about $1.25 million, or $15,900 more than the current year.

For the Revenue Commissioner’s Office, Patterson requested $753,739.66, or $15,997.66 more than the current year.

County commission

The Limestone County Commission’s own budget request totaled $1.29 million for a $31,568.04 increase over the current year. This includes more than $22,000 more for the salaries and wages budgets, more than $12,000 for motor vehicles and a $20,000 increase for legal services.

The commission requested a $30,000 decrease in funding for miscellaneous services provided by others.