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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Vigil

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-3-06

2/09/06 HB 770/aHLC

SHORT TITLE

TORRANCE COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF

SALARIES

SB

ANALYST Hadwiger

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$362.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Finance and Administration (DFA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of HLC Amendment

The House Labor & Human Resources Committee amendment to House Bill 770 will allow Tor-

rance County more than one year to spend the funds in the bill to make it consistent with the

other language in the bill that appropriates the funds for FY06 and FY07.

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 770 appropriates $362 thousand for expenditure in fiscal years 2006 and 2007 from

the general fund to the Local Government Division (LGD) of the Department of Finance and

Administration (DFA) for expenditure in FY06 or FY07 to provide salaries and benefits to eight

deputy sheriffs in Torrance County for one year. The bill contains an emergency clause.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $362 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY07 would revert to

the general fund.

House Bill 770/aHLC – Page 2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

DFA reported that Torrance County currently has 11 full-time deputies and 1 part-time deputy.

This appropriation will provide salaries and benefits to 8 of those officers. Torrance County is

currently struggling with a budget shortfall, caused primarily by the law enforcement and jail

costs. DFA indicates that Torrance County is considering another reduction in force help bal-

ance their budget. Another option under consideration would be to reduce the work hours of all

employees to 32 hours per week, until the budget problems can be resolved. LGD is currently

working with Torrance County to identify solutions to the current budget situation. DFA noted

that, if funds are appropriated to provide salaries and benefits for law enforcement officers, it

will be a recurring cost, since the County doesn't have enough revenues to support the personnel.

The County has already transferred approximately $235,000 from the general fund to finance

deputies. In order to keep the deputies employed, the County needs to find a way to fund the

personnel.

DFA stated that Torrance County previously employed four deputies with federal funding. The

County no longer receives the Cops in Schools (CIS) program funding, so they have requested an

additional appropriation to fund these four deputies. If funds aren't appropriated, a RIF will oc-

cur at the end of the year.

It is difficult for 12 law enforcement officers to cover all the law enforcement needs in the

county’s 4,500 square miles on a 24x7 basis. The Sheriff's Department currently receives an av-

erage of 1,600 calls per month, and 4 domestic violence calls per day. Two officers are required

to respond to domestic violence calls. If currently employed officers are RIF'd, Torrance County

officials are concerned they will not have sufficient law enforcement to protect its citizens.

The HLC amendment is important because it allows Torrance County to spend the funds for

more than one year, which is consistent with the intent of this bill.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

This appropriation will be administered by the Local Government Division of DFA, who has the

capacity to fund and monitor the project.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

In October 2004, the Board of Finance provided a loan of $131 thousand to Torrance County to

address a shortfall in public safety funding.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

When did the financial crisis in Torrance County begin. When do Torrance County

leaders anticipate the County will get its budget back in balance.

DH/mt