DeKalb County’s district attorney and sheriff said public safety will be jeopardized if the county doesn’t raise taxes, and they intend to support an increase.
On Tuesday, District Attorney Robert James and Sheriff Tom Brown told county commissioners they would back a property tax hike by 2.32 mills to save their staffs. Commissioners are scheduled to approve a budget next week with no tax increase and significant cuts, with the positions of public safety director and other employees at risk.
“We are not a safe place,” James said. “When we have the number of murders we have, it’s difficult for me to stand in front of you and say relative to Cobb, Gwinnett, and Henry County that we are safe. A tax increase is the only way. We’ve cut for two, three years.”
Public Safety Director William “Wiz” Miller, whose job could be in jeopardy, said he doesn’t care what commissioners have to say.
Commissioner Larry Johnson said he is researching to determine the justification for spending $150,000 per year for a public safety director to oversee the police and fire chiefs. On Monday, Johnson said "everything is on the table" for possible cuts and some commissioners proposed eliminating the public safety director's office.
“I could care less about his [Johnson’s] comments,” Miller said in response to the criticisms.
Johnson, the commission’s presiding officer, referred the issue to the CEO for an investigation, declining to comment further.
Miller’s frustration comes as the commission struggles to eliminate a proposed tax increase by cutting at least $28 million from the 2011 budget.
Johnson and other commissioners said the CEO created Miller’s office in 2009 to help consolidate administrative functions between the police and fire departments and send more uniform officers to the street. But commissioners now are uncertain whether to keep the office in operation.
Decatur resident A. Jean Richardson said she is unwilling to pay any more in taxes until she sees more open government and restructuring.
“Until the DeKalb County government is overhauled and reorganized with a strategic and marketing plan, DeKalb taxpayers don’t deserve a property tax 2.32 millage increase,” she said.
Commissioners said they have heard from thousands of residents like Richardson, who are against raising taxes.
The district attorney, however, said he doesn’t think residents understand what the cuts mean.
“We have an elderly case pending since 2004; imagine what happens if we take more staff,” James said of a case involving a senior citizen. “We just defer justice.”
Murders in the county rose 41 percent in 2010, which meant more costs for prosecutors and jailers, officials said. Trials rose 22 percent last year and are expected to go up another 12 percent this year, James said.
More trials mean more overtime for deputies who must secure courtrooms and jail cells, the sheriff said.
Chief Superior Court Judge Mark Anthony Scott said defendants’ rights could be denied if cuts are made. He lost six court reporters and said there is no way the county can hold death-penalty trials without more court reporters.
“More reduction will put us in a difficult posture and may violate some rights,” Scott said.
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