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His only option is to trim staff, risking public safety, if proposed reductions are adopted, the sheriff says.

By DAVID HENCH, Staff Writer December 30, 2008

The York County Sheriff's Office could lose four of its 21 deputies if cuts proposed by the York County Budget Committee are approved.

Sheriff Maurice Ouellette said Monday that the cuts would have serious repercussions for the safety of the public and for officers.

"It all comes down to what calls we're going to answer and how long it's going to take to answer the calls, and at what point are we putting people's safety at risk here," Ouellette said. "Somebody is going to get hurt out there, and that's what I'm concerned about."

The committee voted last week to cut $152,000 from the $19 million budget presented by the county's Board of Commissioners. On a 4-3 vote, the committee said the sheriff's law enforcement budget should absorb the entire cut, although county officials said the committee doesn't necessarily have that authority.

The overall county budget forwarded to the committee would increase spending less than 1 percent, but raise taxes 3.9 percent. Much of the tax increase results from the loss of more than $1 million in revenue that the jail typically has earned by boarding state prisoners, inmates from other counties and the federal government. Because the state has taken over operation of the jails, that revenue has all but disappeared.

The budget committee voted to trim the proposal by $152,000 to limit the county tax increase to 3 percent.

Sallie Chandler, chair of the Board of Commissioners, said people are upset about the idea of cutting public safety.

"The folks that I did talk to were not happy. They did not want to lose coverage or have a longer delay for coverage," said Chandler, who lives in Lebanon, one of the towns patrolled by the sheriff's office.

"If you look at the economic problems right now, any part of the budget is subject to questions and cut-downs because the towns don't have the money," she said. "Public safety is not one of the services I necessarily want to cut. I think the other four commissioners would agree with me."

In some counties, a budget committee's recommendations are only advisory; in York County, the full commission has the final say on how much county government can spend.

Ouellette urged people who are concerned about the cuts to attend a Jan. 7 public hearing beginning at 7 p.m. at the York County Courthouse in Alfred.

To meet the commissioners' budget target, Ouellette said he has already laid off a colonel and cut capital spending for things such as new cruisers. The only other place to cut more is deputy positions, he said, probably four of them.

The area the deputies patrol covers 585 square miles and 60,000 people. The sheriff's office is the primary law enforcement agency in 14 York County communities that lack a municipal police department.

Typically, three deputies are on patrol during the day, and four from 4 p.m. to midnight. There are two working from the middle of the night to the following morning.

Ouellette said he might have to eliminate one of the late-night deputies, but that would leave the others vulnerable on a dangerous call.

Maine State Police cover one-third of the patrol area at any given time, but Ouellette said the state agency also is pressed for staff and cannot cover more of the county's calls.

Ouellette said the agency responded to 203 burglaries in 2007, and through October of this year had responded to 207 burglaries.

Budget Committee Chairman John Sylvester, who is also chairman of the Alfred Board of Selectmen and vice president of the Maine Municipal Association, could not be reached for comment.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com