Sheriff’s department lays off 11

By Peter H. Milliken

The jail will remain open at full staff and capacity, the major says.

YOUNGSTOWN — Faced with a $3 million budget shortfall, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Department has furloughed 11 full-time deputies and left four other full-time deputy positions vacant after resignations for a savings of $500,000 a year.

The furloughed deputies, all with less than two years of service and all within their probationary periods, were let go Tuesday, said Maj. James Lewandowski. Because of their probationary status, none of them has recall rights.

Through contract negotiations now under way with the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents department employees, the department is attempting to achieve an additional $2.5 million in savings, Lewandowski said.

“We are trying to reduce our budget by $3 million, and we have made one small step toward that by having a reduction in force of 15 people,” Lewandowski said. Last year, the sheriff’s budget was about $21 million. This year, it is expected to drop to about $18 million, he added.

All of the furloughed deputies worked in the county jail, and they will be replaced with deputies who will be transferred to the jail from other tasks, Lewandowski said.

The department has 285 sworn personnel, including both deputies and officers, and 17 civilian employees.

The jail will remain at “100 percent staffing and bed availability,” and the sheriff’s department will continue to provide law enforcement services throughout Mahoning County, Lewandowski said.

“We’re going to meet all of our mandated responsibilities,” he said. “We’re not eliminating anything, but we are pulling our belts tighter and reducing operations within other areas of the department,” the major said.

The cutbacks were brought about by declines in all of the revenue streams that flow into the county’s general fund, Lewandowski said. Of all county government departments, the sheriff’s department is, by far, the largest consumer of the general fund.

Major revenue streams in the general fund are the county’s two half-percent sales taxes, the real estate tax, state monies and interest income.

Also contributing to the funding shortfall is the decline in revenue-generating prisoners in the county jail, most notably those paid for by the city, Lewandowski added.

The jail has averaged about 122 revenue-generating inmates in recent months, almost all of them federal prisoners.

In a recent memorandum to Sheriff Randall A. Wellington, county Administrator George J. Tablack emphasized “the budgetary importance” of maintaining an average of 150 revenue-producing prisoners in the county jail. The county gets $80 per inmate per day from most of its paying inmate sources.

In recent weeks, county Commissioner David N. Ludt said the sheriff needs to reduce staff to conserve his budget if he can’t maintain 150 revenue-producing inmates in the jail.

“We think that the progress in our labor negotiations is on the right track, and we’re cautiously optimistic that we’ll find the means to work within our anticipated budget,” Lewandowski said.

milliken@vindy.com