A $6 million budget shortfall could allow 800 to get out of jail.
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Fresno County's top administrator, Bart Bohn, will not receive any extra compensation when he retires Sept. 5. County supervisors had considered giving Bohn, who earns $157,040 a year, an extra two years of service credit toward his retirement -- bumping up his retirement benefit by about $10,000 a year, according to the retirement association's calculation. But the request died after supervisors failed to make a motion to approve it.
Go to the Local Government section at the Data Center (fresnobee.com/datacenter) to access the proposed Fresno County 2008-09 budget.
Data Center: Fresno County 2008-09 budgetFresno County supervisors learned Tuesday that eliminating a $6 million budget shortfall will require a host of painful cuts, including closing two floors of the jail and releasing hundreds of inmates.
Sheriff Margaret Mims said her department's share will require laying off 20 correctional officers and closing two floors of the north annex jail in downtown Fresno. That will force the department to release about 800 men who are awaiting trial. The inmates -- who could be released within the next few weeks -- include people accused of misdemeanor crimes such as burglary and battery.
"This is something I said from the beginning was going to happen, and now it's become reality," Mims said after Tuesday's meeting. "This is the hand I was dealt."
Among other cuts:
*Closing 45 beds at the Elkhorn boot camp for juvenile offenders. This could lead to more crowding at the juvenile justice campus if juveniles can't be sentenced to the boot camp. The Probation Department also plans to eliminate a program that allows juveniles to perform community service instead of being held in custody.
*Delaying inspections of exported agricultural shipments because the agricultural commissioner has fewer employees. The delays could cost growers more money if they aren't able to ship their products on time to foreign countries.
*Mowing park lawns once a month and cleaning park restrooms once a week.
County supervisors warned that this may not be the end of the cuts because revenues are coming in below budget. And although the reductions in services will be difficult, county supervisors said they have no other options.
"The reality is the economy we're in requires cuts," Supervisor Susan Anderson said. "We have to reduce our spending because we have less money to spend."
This latest round of cuts comes just two months after supervisors signed off on a $1.7 billion budget that forced nearly every county department to reduce services. Two weeks ago, supervisors ordered departments to cut even more to make up a $6 million shortfall created when supervisors gave the Sheriff's Department money to stave off layoffs.
But the sheriff is now among the department leaders having to make cuts. She has to reduce her budget by $2.8 million. Mims said she has no choice when it comes to releasing inmates.
This is the first time the county has released inmates because of budget issues, Mims said. Previous releases occurred because of crowding in the jail. Two years ago, the county released 15 inmates when the jail reached capacity. Before the county expanded jail capacity in 2002, some months saw more than 1,000 inmates set free.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said Tuesday that he was disappointed to hear about the pending releases. But Dyer also said that his department will continue to arrest people who commit crimes in the city.
"Regardless of whether or not cases are prosecuted or whether these individuals are held in the jail, we have an obligation as a police department to arrest those individuals who are committing crimes in the community, and we're going to continue to do so," he said. "If we have to rearrest those same individuals who are being released, then we're going to do that."
County supervisors discussed other options for reducing expenses, including reimposing a hiring freeze, eliminating raises and promotions and temporarily closing county offices. But in the end, they left it in the hands of department heads to make the cuts. Board Chairman Henry Perea cast the only no vote.
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