The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners has approved continuing with a federal grant program that helps pay for the Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic unit of the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office.
The county has applied for a $150,712 grant for fiscal 2019 through the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. The grant pays the salaries, taxes and benefits of two of three certified sheriff’s deputies assigned to the HEAT unit and select operating expenses for all three deputies, according to a staff memo to commissioners.
Commissioners initially accepted a grant last October to create the HEAT unit and have it operate in fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020, staff said. The fiscal 2019 grant application submitted March 23 designates $132,289.20 for personnel, $16,404 for operating expenses and $2,018.82 for equipment purchases, of tint meters and cameras.
The grant does not require a local match but does not cover overtime and court time of deputies; those costs are budgeted for annually in the Traffic Division’s personnel budget, staff said.
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