Three alternatives for Belknap County spending to be presented tonight

By ROGER AMSDEN, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — The Belknap County Delegation, which unanimously rejected the Belknap County Commission’s proposed $29 million budget on Jan. 22, will be looking at three alternative options proposed by legislators when it meets today at 7 p.m. at the Belknap County Complex.

The alternative budgets, from Rep. Michael Sylvia (R-Belmont), Rep. Marc Abear (R-Meredith) and Rep. Tim Lang (R-Sanbornton), were first presented to the delegation on Jan. 29, when legislators met for a public hearing on the budget.

Sylvia’s budget calls for almost $28 million in spending, about $1.3 million lower than proposed by the commission, but 3.7 percent more than the current-year budget. It would use $1 million from the fund balance to reduce the amount to be raised by property taxes to $14.38 million, nearly $3 million less than proposed by the commission.

Abear’s budget would see almost $28 million in spending, an increase of $1 million from 2017 spending, with $14,920,000 raised from taxes. He also projects using $1 million in fund balance.

Lang’s proposed budget would see spending set at $28 million, which is based on previous spending with some increases for a grant-funded second victim witness advocate in the County Attorney’s office. It calls for $15 million raised through taxes with $750,000 of the fund balance used to reduce taxes.

Belknap County Corrections Superintendent Keith Gray said that, of the three budgets, only Lang’s would provide enough funding to keep the CORE program at the Belknap County Community Corrections Center in place.

The program, which emphasizes treatment rather than incarceration for prisoners with drug dependency problems, was strongly supported at a public hearing on the budget.

Gray said the CORE program is modeled on one in Sullivan County, which he said is very successful and has reduced drug deaths and drug overdoses to the lowest per capita level in the state.

He also said the cuts to part-time and overtime wages in the Sylvia and Abear budgets would lead to staffing shortages and that none of the proposals adequately funds grant programs.

Nursing Home Director Shelley Richardson said that the Sylvia and Abear budgets do not provide adequate staffing levels in the nursing department, nor fund adequate training for the entire department.

Cuts to the Sheriff’s Department would eliminate an additional dispatcher position and would result in the layoff of a part-time deputy. None of the three proposals would fund the four replacement cruisers, as the increased funding in that budget line would be needed to cover other shortfalls.

Belknap County Commissioners say none of the three proposed alternatives to their proposed $29 million budget provides adequate funds to maintain essential county services.

County Commission Chairman Dave DeVoy (R-Sanbornton) said that some of the cuts legislators have proposed for the commission budget would result in staffing shortages in the Corrections Department, Nursing Home and Sheriff’s Department.

He also said that some of the proposed cuts for contracted services don’t make sense. The contract for information technology, for instance, requires a set payment, and funds would need to be transferred from other budget lines or departments to preserve the service.

The delegation decided to post the three alternative budgets on the county website so the public could view them before tonight’s budget meeting.

It also will hear directly from department heads about the impact of the proposed budget cuts.