Sheriff's office down $200,000, other depts cut 5 percent

More than half of Whitman County’s initial $338,000 in spending cuts in response to COVID-19 budget impacts will likely come from the Sheriff’s Office as other departments also planned for reductions of up to 5 percent.

County Administrative Services Director Gary Petrovich previously estimated an approximately $600,000 drop in sales tax revenue for the county’s 2020 budget due to COVID-19 closures. A tentative plan for budget reductions would impose cuts to nearly all of the county’s 23 departments.

Sheriff Brett Myers confirmed about $200,000 of the initial cuts would come from his department. He said he plans to leave two positions vacant for a savings of about $100,000 while also limiting training and equipment spending.

“That’s going to be an absolute hit to our staffing,” he said. “We [also] rolled back as much overtime as possible.”

With a $4.2 million adopted 2020 budget, the Sheriff’s Office represents the most costly department at the county. The cuts would amount to an almost 4.8 percent reduction for the year. Myers expects the budget impacts will likely stretch into next year.

“We anticipate we might have to make more changes,” he said.

The budget plan also calls for $20,000 in cuts to both the Facilities Management and the Information Technology departments, amounting to 2.6 percent and almost 3 percent reductions, respectively.

With a loss of $15,000, the Parks & Recreation department would see the largest proportional cut of 5.4 percent of its $276,600 budget.

The Commissioners department has identified just $500 in reductions so far, about .1 percent of its $479,000 budget. The Clerk’s Office, Treasurer’s Office and Child Support Enforcement had not yet identified any cuts.

But county officials expect they will have to continue adjusting the budget as the revenue impacts of COVID-19 closures become clearer in the coming months.

“They’re certainly going to have effects,” Myers said of the spending cuts. “There are absolutely going to be impacts at each and every office here at the county.”

The sheriff noted his department has seen some expenses go down as gas prices have dropped and the number of prisoners in the jail has decreased.

In response to COVID-19 outbreak concerns, Myers said he has asked deputies to use discretion when deciding when to book suspects into jail or simply refer their cases to court. Deputies have mostly limited arrests to serious offenses or individuals who might pose a risk to public safety.

The Whitman County Jail has so far avoided any COVID-19 cases. Myers said jail officials have established a “pod system” for isolating prisoners into groups based on their release dates to minimize exposure. Myers said the jail has been monitoring the temperatures of staff and prisoners while also increasing hand washing and disinfecting practices.

Myers said the COVID-19 budget reductions will “kick the can” on some essential investments down the road. He said he hopes to return to sustainable funding levels once the budget situation stabilizes.

“You can only go without so long,” he said.