another day, another dollar

So, I have had a tough case at work this week.... and my house let it show. To add to the tension of the case, the worst child abuse and neglect case we have EVER seen..... we are having to cut our budget so badly that it is rumored that we have to lay off or move to the jail about 14 employees. They are demoting Lt's, and not replacing some that have just quit. It is sad, we barely have enough staff to deal with issues.

Our commissioners have mishandled our money. They also say they cannot justify a force as large as our for a mere 17,000 homes that are in the areas we patrol. What they are not considering, is the MILLIONS that come from Salt Lake and spend time in our canyons, driving through on their way to the sand dunes, etc. MOST of our enforcement comes from that. I, alone, arrested 48 DUI's, over 500 alcohol offenses, 397 drug arrests, etc. last year .... all by myself. Our department gets money from every ticket we write, a percentage. The average drug ticket is a thousand dollars, $500 each for the possession and paraphernalia. You usually cannot have one without the other, because the packaging is considered paraphernalia. The county stands to lose even more money.

Our commissioners suck.... and they need to be held accountable for their mismanagement. They even laughed and said, "Oh, and I guess we missed the deadline to raise property taxes. Oh well.... " and started laughing about it. We pay taxes on the level of Sanpete County, but we are nearly as large as Salt Lake County.... we don't have enough money to continue operating. Sad that they are getting away with it. I hope the newpaper finds out and reams them for it.