Waco
– In looking to cut $3 million in spending for next year's budget,
County Commissioners put the DARE program on the choppping block
first.
The
total amount of unspent budgeted money in the General Fund as of
mid-July totaled $22,611,833.66.
Certified
Peace Officers visit schools and make children aware of the dangers
of drugs. There are three such officers assigned to the unit, each
equipped with a police cruiser fully outfitted with radios, emergency
lighting and sirens, a mobile data terminal, and emergency gear. The
cars are estimated at about $29,000, the extra gear at $10,000 each.
Judge
Jim Lewis went on record in budget talks last week telling Chief
Deputy Randy Plemons of the McLennan County Sheriff's Office that he
feels the DARE program has outlived its usefulness. Schools offer the
same curriculum and fund it on their own budgets. The Waco
Independent School District does not participate in the program.
In an ironic twist, the lead officer in the unit testified before the Court, saying that plans to hold the annual DARE Officers Conference in Waco during 2013 will be made awkward, to say the least, if the County has no DARE unit of its own.(click here for an audio report)
Dare
compares with other unspent budgeted items in Sheriff's Office
accounts of the General Fund, with Care and Feeding of Prisoners
coming in at a hefty $3,196,451.55 and Fund 2200, “County Sheriff,”
at $1,843,146.28.
General
Expenses total nearly a million dollars in unspent funds at
$994,060.29, Building Maintenance more than a half million at
$577,092.27, and Juvenile Services Detention at $959,327.10 and
Probation at $1,179,290.13.
Unspent
funds in the County Welfare Services Account total $1,228,950.19 and
in unspent Medicaid funds of $325,000.
Why has the commissioners court been so hell bent on spending,because MASHEK,LEWIS,AND GIBSON HAVE BEEN AND ARE ALL DEMOCRATS.WAKE UP PEOPLE,THEN THEY CUT THE SMALL DEPARTMENTS AND LET THE COUNTY CLERK DO WHAT HE WANTS,SPEND AND GIVE HIS EMPLOYEES RAISES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR,AND LEWIS UPS HIS BUDGET AND HAS A BUDGET OFFICERS THAT RAISED HIS ASSISTANT AND HIMSELF BUT CUTS THE SMALL DEPARTMENTS.
ReplyDeleteI WISH THE COMMISSIONERS WOULD APPROVE THE ORIGINAL BUDGET AND LET THE COUNTY IMPROVE EVERYTHING AND GIVE THE ELECTED OFFICIALS EVERYTHING THEY WANT,WHAT IS THE HOLDUP,RAISE THE TAXES BECAUSE NOBODY CARES.DO THE RIGHT THING HOW.
ReplyDeleteohi just love the tea party,they go to the courthouse every tuesday and report back to simon and walker and say hey we are realyy getin them to cut the budget.ha ha
ReplyDelete