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Sheriff’s department expansion option receives tepid response

Washington County communities recognize the problem of escalating drug-related crimes but are struggling with how to tackle the problem without placing additional financial burdens on already tight municipal and household budgets.

Washington County communities recognize the problem of escalating drug-related crimes but are struggling with how to tackle the problem without placing additional financial burdens on already tight municipal and household budgets. In an effort to gauge public support for increasing the county sheriff department's budget in order to add extra staffing and equipment, the Washington County commissioners held two public meetings about the issue and sent letters to the county's municipalities asking for input on a possible county budget increase. At their April 12 meeting, the commissioners reviewed the replies of letters received in response. County commission Chair Chris Gardner stated succinctly, "We didn't hear from many communities."
As of the commissioners' meeting, about one quarter of the county's communities had responded. County Manager Betsy Fitzgerald notes that Baileyville, Charlotte, Eastport, Milbridge and Wesley are opposed to an increase in the county budget; Lubec would support a department staff increase of one; Addison, Grand Lake Stream and Meddybemps support the program; Machias wants its decision to be a part of the town's budget discussion; and two of Jonesport's selectmen were interested in a work group to expand the discussion. The City of Calais is also opposed, with its letter of February 24 stating, in part, "We acknowledge that the opioid and drug epidemic is a serious issue, but we don't feel this proposed increase in manpower is the only answer. Greater efficiency through inter-agency cooperation and information sharing should be fully explored."
Eastport City Manager Elaine Abbott, who also serves on the county budget committee, explains in a separate response that she spoke about the commissioners' letter with each of the city's councillors and then responded to the commissioners with the city's position. The city is not opposed to expanding the sheriff's department, but it is opposed to increasing the county's budget to do so. Abbott notes in her letter that adding an 8.7% increase to a budget that already saw a 2018 increase of 7.8% would mean a county budget increase of 16.5%. And while the commissioners stressed that the initial percentage increase would be higher than that of subsequent years because of capital expenses such as additional vehicles, Abbott pointed to 56% of the island city's population living at a level of low- to moderate-income levels. "Municipalities in Washington County face the very real issue of residents losing their homes to foreclosure. How do I, as city manager, explain to the low-income and fixed-income residents that their taxes are about to spiral out of control?"
At the meeting, Gardner expressed his frustration at the small percentage of responses. "We informed the public that on the law enforcement side things are not good. There is no reason to believe it will get any better." He added, "People are going to die, and there will come a time when people not involved in drug business are going to be directly affected." He stated that, when that times comes, "there will be the cry, 'Something should have been done sooner.'"
Abbott's written response shared a similar suggestion to that offered by Jonesport and Calais. She wrote, "Eastport fully recognizes the drug problem and the related increase in crime; therefore Eastport suggests and fully supports forming a task force utilizing inter-agency cooperation. Through cooperative sharing of information and resources, the drug and crime problem would be addressed in a more effective and comprehensive way."
Chief Deputy Mike Crabtree noted that if smaller communities "don't speak up, then it will be influenced overly by larger communities" in the decision of whether or not to expand the sheriff's department. However, Abbott notes in her letter that as a member of the county budget committee she has been contacted by municipal leaders and residents of Perry and Pembroke, as well as Eastport. "Comments I have received range from the impossibility of affording the proposed increase to outright anger that a budget could possibly increase by nearly 16.5%."
The commissioners stated that taxpayers can easily figure out what the county budget increase would mean for them. "All the taxpayer has to do to figure out what that means to them is to take out their tax bill and look at the county portion of bill and calculate" what the increase would be. The City of Calais' letter takes issue with the county's method of determining individual impact. Calais, it stated, would see its county tax increase by $529,555. "This increase, when added with annual increases over the past eight years, would represent more than a 45% increase or nearly 6% a year for the City of Calais." The letter continues by stating that while the county estimates that the city's residents would see an increase of $8.09 per person, in practice it wouldn't break down that way. "This would only be the case if every person in Calais paid real estate taxes. Taxes are only assessed to property owners."
Commissioner Vinton Cassidy, a Calais resident, suggested to his fellow commissioners, "We need ambassadors to speak to groups to sell it in an honest way." Gardner responded, "It shouldn't be on us to sell them on the problem." He added, "I want the record to reflect that we did our best."
The county's letter suggests that along with a possible budget increase there is the option of creating a municipal officers working group to tackle the issue, a strategy that Calais, Eastport and Jonesport officials suggest they support.