Sheriff's plan would temporarily preserve Linn County rescue unit

Linn County would tap fines and fees raised by county jail prisoners to fund the sheriff's offices rescue service for another year under a proposal from Sheriff Brian Gardner.

Supervisors at this morning's work session were receptive to Gardner's plan, but emphasized it's a stopgap limited to the fiscal year starting July 1.

“I am very much inclined to accept this offer, with this caveat: this is a short-term solution,” said District 2 Supervisor Linda Langston, a Cedar Rapids Democrat.

Gardner said his department is expected to bring in $5 million in revenue in fiscal 2012, a $1.2 million increase over the current year. The increase is generated largely by the return of federal prisoners to the county jail.

The county bills prisoners a little over $60 a day for their jail stays. Other revenues are raised by the aggressive collection of fines and fees owed the county.

Gardner suggested the county use about a quarter of the expected additional revenue to restore the rescue unit's $300,000 annual cost. Funding for the service, known as Rescue 57 for its radio call sign, was eliminated during this year's budget-writing process.

District 3 Supervisor Ben Rogers, the only supervisor to vote to keep Rescue 57 in the budget, said he'll back the one-year fix.

“I am in favor of figuring out how to get this back in the budget,” said Rogers, also a Democrat from Cedar Rapids. “But I don't want to piecemeal it.”

“That conversation is ongoing,” said Gardner.

Budget Director Dawn Jindrich agreed Gardner's plan shouldn't be permanent.

“It shouldn't be an ongoing way of funding,” she said. “We just completed the budget a week ago. If we were going to get more revenue, we probably should have budgeted that.”

Jindrich said the county can't increase its rural levy, assessed on property owners outside incorporated areas, enough to fund Rescue 57 without hitting the state's levy limit. Raising an additional $300,000 would mean boosting the rural levy about 20 cents, she said, while raising the same amount through the general levy would mean “a few cents.”

Supervisors will consider the plan's formal adoption April 4.