Supervisors discuss law enforcement budget

By: 
Robert Maharry

The Grundy County Board of Supervisors heard from the heads of five departments about budget requests for fiscal year 2018 during its regular meeting on Monday morning. The deadline for certifying budgets is March 15. 
           
The sheriff’s department gave the longest presentation of the day, as recently re-elected Sheriff Rick Penning explained a pair of situations that could have profound impacts on his budget. First, the city of Reinbeck, which currently receives the most contracted hours (250 per month) for law enforcement of any community in the county, is considering reducing its annual expenditures by 20 percent, from $121,074, to $96,859 (along with reducing the minimum monthly hours to 200 and daytime hours to 50, a 50 percent reduction), amidst budget concerns, and Penning and Chief Deputy Tim Wolthoff expressed trepidation about the negative repercussions such a move could have for the county. Supervisor Barb Smith agreed.
           
“It’s kind of a slippery slope because the other communities see this taking place,” she said. “The county will subsidize this further.”
 
Read more in this week's Grundy Register. 

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