I feel it is important to clarify some serious misinformation that Dick Beyer communicated in a letter to the editor recently published in your newspaper. The letter concerned the 2008 budget of the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department and wrongfully asserted that the department had gone over budget by some $408,000. Once again, Mr. Beyer, himself a former member of the county board who served for several years on the finance committee, either has failed to gather all of the facts or is deliberately misrepresenting those facts.
The reality if that the Sheriff's Department was over budget by $36,665. This shortfall did not come from any extra spending or unbudgeted purchases, but rather is the result of a negotiated salary increase for 2008. This bargained agreement between the Deputies' Union and the County Board was not reached until after the 2008 budget was passed and we were well into the fiscal year. Were it not for this labor contract issue, we most likely would have had a $10,000 to $12,000 balance left in our budget. Additionally, our department has exceeded our allotted budget only one other time in the past 20 years.
Another fact is that the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department budget is the smallest of any sheriff's department of the 11 Wisconsin counties our size. A few of those counties spend more than a million dollars more each year for their county law enforcement than we do, even though their county populations are virtually the same and even less than ours in at least two cases.
I always am more than willing to consider helpful suggestions on issues such as this. However, falsehoods, recriminations and finger-pointing do not serve any constructive purpose.
The reality if that the Sheriff's Department was over budget by $36,665. This shortfall did not come from any extra spending or unbudgeted purchases, but rather is the result of a negotiated salary increase for 2008. This bargained agreement between the Deputies' Union and the County Board was not reached until after the 2008 budget was passed and we were well into the fiscal year. Were it not for this labor contract issue, we most likely would have had a $10,000 to $12,000 balance left in our budget. Additionally, our department has exceeded our allotted budget only one other time in the past 20 years.
Another fact is that the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department budget is the smallest of any sheriff's department of the 11 Wisconsin counties our size. A few of those counties spend more than a million dollars more each year for their county law enforcement than we do, even though their county populations are virtually the same and even less than ours in at least two cases.
I always am more than willing to consider helpful suggestions on issues such as this. However, falsehoods, recriminations and finger-pointing do not serve any constructive purpose.
