DeKalb won't raise taxes to fund court system

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County commissioners said they will not raise taxes even if threatened by a judicial order for failing to fund the county’s court system.

In response, the judges, sheriff and district attorney intend to move forward with filing an order that directs CEO Burrell Ellis to restore the proposed $4.2 million cuts to their budget. Once signed by an outside judge, that order will require DeKalb to raise taxes or find funding elsewhere to cover the constitutional officers’ costs.

“The money is going to have to come from somewhere,” Ellis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The court order is not necessarily a bad thing. It will provide a dose of reality to this whole budget process.”

On Tuesday morning, the constitutional officers spent an hour accusing Ellis of violating residents’ constitutional rights and personal safety by cutting funding.

“Murderers are going to be back on the streets and victims’ families are not going to get justice,” District Attorney Gwen Keyes Fleming told the CEO. “The justice system is being put in a vice and you are just adding to the pressure.”

The CEO’s proposed cuts are needed to offset a 3.1-percent decline in the tax digest that has caused a $10.2 million shortfall in this year’s budget.

On Monday, Chief Superior Court Judge Cynthia J. Becker and other constitutional officers threatened to sue the CEO if funding was not restored.

On Tuesday, Ellis said he was willing to work with the court system, but said the funding was just not there. The county commission, which will vote on the millage rate on June 22, has said it will not raise taxes.

“There will be no millage increase,” said Commissioner Connie Stokes, budget committee chair. “We’re trying to find the money elsewhere to keep the rec centers open and help public safety, but we don’t have enough to cover all of it.”

Commissioners ordered the CEO to trim staff after a Georgia State University study found the county was bloated and had more staff than Gwinnett and Cobb counties, which have similar size populations. The courts were not included in that study.

However, information compiled by the county finance department found that DeKalb’s courts and sheriff also had more staff. DeKalb had 180 more workers than Cobb and 480 more than Gwinnett.

“We were trying to right-size the government but acknowledge we couldn’t go as deep in the constitutional offices as the rest of the government,” Ellis said. “I think we reasonably accommodated the judges and others. What I can’t promise is that I’m going to raise their budgets.”

The judges and sheriff argued that their staff can’t be cut without infringing on constitutional mandates.

Chief public defender Claudia Saari said the county could have more lawsuits and cases dismissed from people sitting in jail longer.

“These are constitutional offices that are different than the sanitation department,” said Becker, whose court is facing a $704,000 cut. “I understand politically that sharing the pain sounds good, but politically we have responsibilities to every single person in this county. … I’m not going to engage in sound bytes with you Mr. CEO.”

Ellis ordered everyone in the room to calm down, saying that he sensed some “flippancy and an attitude” in the room.

Sheriff Thomas Brown said he would rather see the county close recreation centers than cut back on bonding, finger-printing, and laundry and medical services in the jail.

“If the board of commissioners adopts the budget you submitted, I’m going to sue the commissioners,” Brown said.

The sheriff was facing a $2.1 million cut, which would equal about 50 deputies, Brown said.

“We’re going to be into furloughs if not layoffs,” Brown told the AJC. “We’re talking about cutting constitutionally mandated programs. I don’t have any warm and fuzzy programs. It’s not a legal requirement to keep a rec center or library open.”

Ellis insisted he was not targeting the court system and was trying to spread the budget woes across the county.

“I don’t want to be argumentative,” Ellis said. “But we can’t finance this budget without sharing it across the board. I adopted an approach of shared sacrifice.”

Part of the problem comes from 826 county workers who are leaving as part of an early retirement program. Ellis said 181 of those employees work in the constitutional offices.

Ellis’ proposal calls for 111 -- 61 percent – of those court vacancies to be filled.

In addition to not filling all of the retirees’ positions, Ellis has recommended closing two recreation centers, one pool and several libraries.

BOX

Court system staff*

DeKalb: 1,784

Cobb: 1,598

Gwinnett: 1,297

* Includes courts, sheriff, district attorney, solicitor-general and medical examiner

Source: DeKalb County

BOX 2:

DeKalb proposed budget cuts:

Sheriff: $2.1 million

Superior Court: $704,299

District Attorney: $589,486

Magistrate Court: $309,427

State Court: $135,743

Clerk of Superior Court: $261,624

Juvenile Court: $139,730

Probate Court: $165,251

Public defender: $63,592