NewsHound
07-15-2008, 01:07 AM
To help Palm Beach County contend with a financial crunch, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw signaled Monday that he would consider putting fewer nonviolent offenders in jail by using electronic ankle bracelets.
County Commissioner Burt Aaronson pressed Bradshaw during a budget workshop to consider using ankle bracelets as a means to save on food, medical care and other incarceration costs.
"That's something we should explore," Bradshaw said, speaking at a daylong meeting about the county's budget.
In Palm Beach County, it costs roughly $140 a day to incarcerate an inmate. By comparison, Bradshaw said, it would take just two correctional officers to monitor 50 inmates who could be released to their homes or other places in ankle bracelets.
Bradshaw has been sharply criticized in recent months for seeking a roughly $35 million increase in the sheriff's budget at a time when most other county departments are facing cuts. Bradshaw said his department is already facing constraints, and has had difficulties filling detective positions.
"We realize that there's not a big pot of money out there," Bradshaw said. "But I can't go to sleep at night and think that I can't send people to help who need it."
Bradshaw said that the sheriff's department has taken steps this year to minimize cost increases, such as delaying vehicle purchases, deferring major purchases, and tightening spending overall.
"Believe me, we felt an extreme amount of pain to get this budget as low as it is," Bradshaw said.
County commissioners are seeking to maintain the current tax rate. Last week, they gave preliminary approval to a set of budget cuts, fee increases and budget transfers. They include roughly three-dozen job layoffs and more than $30 million in cuts to the portion of the county's portion funded by property taxes.
The countywide tax rate is expected to remain at $378 per $100,000 of a property's taxable value. As a result, a family with a $300,000 home will save about $60 on county taxes, assuming they qualify for the doubled homestead exemption that voters approved in January.
Source (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-0714anklebracelets,0,6142373.story)
County Commissioner Burt Aaronson pressed Bradshaw during a budget workshop to consider using ankle bracelets as a means to save on food, medical care and other incarceration costs.
"That's something we should explore," Bradshaw said, speaking at a daylong meeting about the county's budget.
In Palm Beach County, it costs roughly $140 a day to incarcerate an inmate. By comparison, Bradshaw said, it would take just two correctional officers to monitor 50 inmates who could be released to their homes or other places in ankle bracelets.
Bradshaw has been sharply criticized in recent months for seeking a roughly $35 million increase in the sheriff's budget at a time when most other county departments are facing cuts. Bradshaw said his department is already facing constraints, and has had difficulties filling detective positions.
"We realize that there's not a big pot of money out there," Bradshaw said. "But I can't go to sleep at night and think that I can't send people to help who need it."
Bradshaw said that the sheriff's department has taken steps this year to minimize cost increases, such as delaying vehicle purchases, deferring major purchases, and tightening spending overall.
"Believe me, we felt an extreme amount of pain to get this budget as low as it is," Bradshaw said.
County commissioners are seeking to maintain the current tax rate. Last week, they gave preliminary approval to a set of budget cuts, fee increases and budget transfers. They include roughly three-dozen job layoffs and more than $30 million in cuts to the portion of the county's portion funded by property taxes.
The countywide tax rate is expected to remain at $378 per $100,000 of a property's taxable value. As a result, a family with a $300,000 home will save about $60 on county taxes, assuming they qualify for the doubled homestead exemption that voters approved in January.
Source (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/palmbeach/sfl-0714anklebracelets,0,6142373.story)