Good Morning Chairman Cox and members of the Board. I am pleased to present our 98-99 budget request. Before I begin, I would like to publicly thank you for the support you have given us during the past year. I also want to thank the CAO and Auditor and especially the Public Safety Group, for their help during the budget process. We are presenting a realistic budget which is responsible and attainable.
Once again the CRIME RATE IS DOWN in the San Diego region. The reduction is approximately 5% from last year. The crime rate in the Sheriff's service area is actually 35% lower than the region as a whole. With your continued support, I am confident this trend will continue.
Through our joint efforts, we have many accomplishments to celebrate this year. The new San Diego Central Jail opened Memorial Day weekend. We house 940 inmates there and will earn $2 million annually by housing City inmates.
We are extremely pleased with the action recently taken by your Board to replace our ASTREA facility. I want to thank the Department of Public Works for their support and assistance.
Phase I of the new Regional Firearms Training Facility at East Mesa was completed in October. Since then, training has been provided to over 6,000 employees from 20 federal, state and local agencies. This new facility also allows training on rifles and fully automatic weapons, which we could not do previously.
The new Regional Communications Center will open for operations in July. The 800Mhz radio and the dispatch system will be operational soon. At last we will be able to communicate directly with other agencies.
The County's ground lease of property at East Mesa for construction of a 1,000 bed jail provided us with $3.3 million for future critical projects and $1 million in annual lease revenues. This privately run facility will revert to the County over time, and provide us with additional beds when we need them. It will help federal agencies with their need for inmate beds and provide temporary and permanent jobs for the San Diego region. This unique project is a real win for all of us.
The new Poway station opened in March. This facility will serve our department and the City of Poway for years to come.
The Community Oriented Policing philosophy continues to grow in the Sheriff's Department. This year we were able to commit state grant funding for a COPS Coordinator and an Abatement Investigations Deputy. We currently have COPS deputies working in Spring Valley, Lakeside, Fallbrook, unincorporated Escondido, Bonita, and some of the rural areas. The cities of Vista, San Marcos, Encinitas and Santee are also participating.
We were extremely pleased to commit resources this year to the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team. The Board's support of this important program provides a safe response in crisis situations and alternatives to arrest and incarceration of mentally ill persons.
In September, we embarked on a Customer Service Quality Improvement Program. This effort will involve all 3,300 Sheriff's employees over the next two years. It will advance fundamental organizational change that will promote leadership, improve customer service, enhance employee morale, increase productivity and provide a strategic plan for the Department's future.
We have much to be grateful for this year. My staff has worked hard on a number of initiatives. Your Board has introduced and supported many projects and programs. The most critical project approved by your Board this year was the Jail Information Management System. JIMS will increase efficiency and reduce risks and liabilities common to jail operations.
Our Crime Lab began our DNA program this fiscal year thanks to Supervisors Roberts and Slater. As you know from our recent status report, we have purchased “state of the art” DNA equipment. However, we have been unable to fill all of the positions --- it may be necessary for us to take another look at recruitment and salary levels.
The DNA program is also the first step toward a truly regional crime lab. With the District Attorney, we are exploring further actions needed to bring this dream to reality. The consolidation of the City and County labs will require funding for:
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the second phase of the DNA staffing plan, |
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equity adjustments to align city and county salaries, and |
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staff to implement the accreditation process. |
This effort will require $1.5 million over a 2 year period. We ask your Board to work with us to identify funding so that the County may begin to achieve the ongoing savings and efficiencies of the fully implemented plan.
The Agricultural Crime Prevention Specialist proposed by Supervisor Horn last year has focussed the effort against agricultural crime and has made a significant difference.
The two Ramona deputies proposed by Supervisor Jacob prevented a service reduction in the Ramona community. Patrol operations would have been severely impacted by the loss of the two deputies.
The Board, led by Supervisors Cox and Horn, has been extremely supportive in controlling gang activities. The addition of a Sergeant to the North County Regional Gang Task Force contributed to a decrease in gang activity. We saw a 22% decrease in the first year of operation and 34% in the second.
Two new positions for our Employee Medical Assistance Team will save money on workers compensation claims, litigation and time lost on the job.
I would now like to take a few minutes to update you on the Training Pipeline. As you know, the pipeline provides us with additional academy and training positions so that fully trained deputies will be ready to step into vacancies as they occur. As planned, we implemented the pipeline this spring. The current academy will graduate 7 pipeline deputies. I recognize that we fell substantially short of our original target but the healthy local economy has made recruitment more difficult than anticipated. To address this problem, we have increased the number of academies and have stepped up recruiting through the Department's website and radio and TV advertising. Our goal next year is to graduate the equivalent of 47 pipeline positions. We expect to reduce overtime expenditures by approximately $1 million next year. Over the next five years, overtime expenditures will be reduced by $3 to $5 million annually.
I am happy to report that we will once again have a positive fund balance. We got there by controlling expenditures and building our revenues. For example, we earned $900,000 by housing state parolees and INS inmates without increasing net cost. In keeping with the Board's entrepreneurial philosophy, we anticipate we will add $6 million to our Management Reserves. This funding will allow us to begin replacing or improving some of our old and inadequate facilities.
The budget and change letter proposed by the CAO totals $230 million. Only 30% of this amount is net county cost. The major changes in the budget include salary increases as well as continued funding for several items approved by your Board this past year.
Of these, a number are being funded from COPS state grant revenue including:
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An additional street narcotics/gang team |
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Two deputies for bomb and arson |
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A deputy for computer crime and one for crime abatement |
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A coordinator and crime analyst for COPPS |
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Two deputies for weapons training |
Other additions relate to internal service funds and the domestic violence grant program.
Also added were full-year costs for positions added mid-year including staffing for the central jail, the communications center and JIMS.
Major items in the change letter include $2.5 million to rebudget equipment funds for the central jail and carryover of multi-year grant funding.
Appropriating SCAAP grant funds of $1.1 million in the change letter will allow us to make progress on meeting the State Board of Corrections standards. This effort will aid us in our continuing effort to manage our overtime costs.
Our remaining budget issues deal with what we call Structural Underfunding. This category covers work we are already performing without funding or staff to support those activities which often results in higher overtime costs.
Examples of some of these items are
In addition, Megan's Law was previously enacted to help track sexual predators. Staff is needed in order to properly administer this program.
Other information on Structural Underfunding issues is included in your binders.
I've told you where we've been and where we are. Now I'd like to discuss the future. One issue confronting us is the need to replace or expand several of our facilities. We will be addressing the need for new or replacement facilities in Rancho San Diego, Alpine, Fallbrook, Pine Valley, and Valley Center. We have begun to plan for a new Las Colinas Detention facility and refurbishment of our Descanso facility. Work on Phase II of our Regional Firearms Facility will also begin in the coming year.
We have two additional items on our agenda for the future. We are in the process of submitting a $5.5 million federal COPS More grant application. This project will do for law enforcement what the JIMS system will accomplish for our jails. Full automation of law enforcement will free deputies from their desks and paperwork and increase the time they spend in the field serving the public.
The second item is our five-year financial plan. Our Management Services Bureau has established a blueprint that will allow us to plan for our future needs and projected revenues. We have already analyzed and internally realigned our existing budget and have identified funding commitments that will impact future budgets. We will be completing the last three elements of the plan over the coming months. They include
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establishing appropriate workload and service indicators, |
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exploring new revenue sources, and |
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identifying and prioritizing all of our future program initiatives. |
As you can see, our department has a full plate. I appreciate the support you have given to public safety needs and, specifically to our department. Your strong commitment to effective law enforcement in this County is evident. We are asking you to support the CAO's budget and request that we work together to identify opportunities to address our Structural Underfunding issues. I am excited about the future and all that we can accomplish together in the coming year.
Thank you
