Commissioners backtrack on money transfer

LACONIA — Belknap County Commissioners have reversed a $4,000 transfer of money from the county’s contingency fund, largely to pay for cups used to collect and test urine for drug screenings.

The decision came when commissioners met Thursday morning.

The original action sparked a confrontation over budgetary authority between the commission and the Belknap County Legislative Delegation’s Executive Committee.

Executive Committee Chairman Michael Sylvia (R-Belmont) said two weeks ago that the transfer violated a state law that requires approval from the Executive Committee for any transfers from the contingency fund.

Commissioners continued to differ with Sylvia, maintaining that the $27.92 million budget prepared by Rep. Marc Abear (R-Meredith) that the delegation approved contained no restrictions on the transfer of money.

DeVoy said the MS-42 form filed with the state Department of Revenue Administration by Abear -- the clerk of the Belknap County Delegation -- contains a line listing a  $150,000 contingency fund.

But DeVoy and his fellow commissioners said the delegation only voted on the bottom line on three items, revenue, expenditures and the amount to be raised by taxes, meaning there is no line-by-line budget.

DeVoy said commissioners agreed to undo the transfer rather than face the prospect of a long, drawn-out legal battle with the delegation over budgetary authority.

“It wasn’t worth it. And the money isn’t needed right now anyway,” he said.

The transfer was for the Restorative Justice program, with $3,000 designated for special diagnostic cups used in court-ordered urine analysis screenings.

Michael MacFadzen, director of the program, told commissioners in April that his request for $6,000 for the testing program was cut by the Belknap County Delegation to $3,000, and that he has already used nearly 43 percent of that money.

He has estimated that the department will process about 2,600 tests during a year. He said the department currently has 66 active court diversion cases and 70 active pre-trial cases and he is concerned that it will run out of money for the tests before the year is out.

The Restorative Justice program supervises both juveniles and adults in court diversion programs, many of whom perform community service as part of the process, and are required to take tests to show they haven’t used drugs or alcohol.

MacFadzen said that the pretrial cases are particularly demanding on his department’s personnel and resources, in part because the defendants don’t pay fees for the court-ordered tests. In addition, the Restorative Justice program’s office is closed on Wednesday afternoons so that those awaiting trial can report and be supervised.

“Urine screens are of particular importance for our diversion clients, as that forces compliance with no drug and alcohol usage as part of that program," MacFadzen wrote in his report to commissioners. "The PTS clients are pulling that resource away from the diversion clients.”

DeVoy said that the recent hiring of a pre-trial service coordinator for the Belknap County Corrections Department will help lighten the load on the Restorative Justice program and that tests for the 70 pretrial cases will now be shifted to the new Community Corrections Center.

“They don’t have the money either, but won’t need any funds until later in the year. We’re hoping that by that time we’ll have identified a source for a funds transfer that will cover the cost,” said DeVoy.