More Layoffs at JSO

[Scarlettjax]

A LETTER TO EMPLOYEES OF THE JACKSONVILLE SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
As you all know, the City of Jacksonville continues to experience a serious financial crisis. As occurs throughout the year, and particularly in preparation for the upcoming fiscal year budget, we have been appraising the mayor’s office of our successes (lowering the crime rate through innovative, intelligence led policing tactics and citizen involvement) and our challenges (sustaining crime reductions after having laid off personnel and reduced services; paying for services for which we have no operational control).
In fiscal year 2011-2012 the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office was forced to lay off sworn police officers for the first time in the history of consolidation. This was a deep cut, and in addition to the other people, positions and services we eliminated, all were mandated by the city’s circumstances, last year. The crisis has not abated.
It has actually been strained even further by the increased required pension payment combined with the revenue shortage caused by the continued declines in our property values, resulting in a decline in revenue from property taxes. Normally, some of this revenue decline would be adjusted through a process called “rolling back” â€" which allows the taxable rate on property to self-adjust to previous year’s tax revenue, resulting in NO increase in property taxes paid by the property owner. It allows the city to collect the same amount of revenue as was previously collected. It is my understanding that this adjustment will not occur and the result is less revenue and less money into the general fund. That directly forces cuts to city services, particularly police and corrections.
I would categorize our budget discussions thus far, internally and with both the mayor’s office and various members of the city council, as deliberative and comprehensive, but simply put: the pain continues. I have continued to voice my frustration over the percentage of our expenses which are NOT controlled by us. I am referring to internal services provided by the city for which actual costs should be identified, but cannot be. Theoretically, the costs for services such as IT, fleet management, insurance, benefits, should be passed on to the customer, JSO, with NO MARK UP or cost shifting. However, our budget continues to reflect line items for which we have no purchasing power (employee insurance, fleet management, copiers, etc.) or for which I have no bargaining power (the pension). My concerns have been noted, but we are heading into fiscal year 2012-2013 with no equitable solution to addressing these large sums or parts of our budget for which I have no managerial oversight; and no solution for the pension issue, for which I have no vote nor any control. These items are all placed in the JSO budget.
As I grapple with that, I must remind you that we are stepping up and making sure we are doing our part to help the city meet its fiscal challenges. But I do this at a time when the crime reductions of the last three years, reductions for which every one of you and our citizen-partners have worked, may no longer be sustainable with the manpower levels we will be facing after this next round of cuts.
At this time it appears, yet again, the only way to meet the huge budget reductions being forced upon us by the declining revenues and the rising cost of the pension payment is if I make wholesale, massive cuts to the expenses that we do control â€" which translates to people and services to this community.
The bulk of those budget cuts will come from the elimination of our Community Service Officer program, and the dismantling of our Community Transition Center (minimum security) corrections facility and its programs, such as secure drug treatment.
The Community Service Officer (CSO) program: This program has been a valuable force multiplier and career launching pad for many hard working young people. But, sadly, we will be following suit with other agencies around the country that have also been forced to eliminate such programs. We will realize a $3.3 million dollar savings, but will be facing tremendous challenges in transitioning their duties and responsibilities to sworn officers and other agencies. In particular, working the crashes that occur on our state roadways within the city limit will have to be assumed by the Florida Highway Patrol. I have met with their leadership, and Director Michael Edwards is handling the operational transition and challenges this change will present. The bottom line here is not the $3.3 million dollars saved, but instead the challenges our citizens will face in wait times for FHP officers to respond to crashes that require a police report for insurance purposes or a professional determination of fault. I appreciate the support of the FHP in making this transition. The entire CSO program will be eliminated on August 24th, with sixty-three CSO’s being laid off.
The Community Transition Center (CTC): Often referred to as “the crown jewel” of our corrections operation, after August 24th we will no longer be running the nationally recognized 135 bed in-patient drug rehabilitation center known as Matrix House. Many non-violent, drug and alcohol addicted offenders have had their lives and futures changed because of this program, and it is with great sadness we must shut it down. The resulting dollar savings will be $4.4 million dollars for the operation, and we will forego the $1.5 million of funding from the city for the counseling services that have been provided by River Region Human Services. Programs such as home detention will be expanded, and those inmates/clients who currently have to be supervised will be matriculated into the general jail or prison populations; populations that are already burgeoning. The “savings” from the elimination of the CTC will be realized through the reduction in force of 58 corrections officers. There will be reassignments within our corrections department, as well as the reversions of four corrections lieutenants and 14 corrections sergeants to lower rank. Nine civilian staff members, including program supervisors, will also be laid off. We will be shuttering the facility at 535 Washington Street, and moving the pre-trial services office to the CTC location at 451 Catherine Street. It has better infrastructure, and is a more serviceable facility. This cut will not impact our re-entry program.
Again, any savings realized by the “bottom line” is not easy for me to understand, as I come to terms with the possible increase in the recidivism rate; the impact to the jail population; and our long term ability to deliver corrections services that are restorative and go beyond the mere warehousing of inmates.
We will be permanently eliminating 319 positions in the agency. They are comprised of 74 police officer positions (vacant/will become vacant in FY 2012); 91 corrections positions (58 layoffs/33 vacancies) and 154 civilian positions (72 layoffs/82 vacancies). Yes, many of them are currently vacant, but completely removing them from our personnel cap means any hope we had of hiring more officers; replacing some individuals who retired or resigned; or making up for the loss of the 45 officers and 29 civilian personnel laid off last year will not be possible.
A few other changes that we might expect include reworking our organizational chart, from the top down, to shift responsibilities and duties in response to program closures and manpower changes. I am studying those items closely, and anticipate more announcements as we “even out” the span of control of various parts of our management structure.
With regard to traffic control during special events in our city; the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office will no longer be able to afford to provide traffic officers for which we do not receive compensation for our costs. Like many other large cities in the country we will not be offering traffic control to any event or facility as a convenience to our citizens. This will signify a tremendous shift in the expectations of our citizens, as they may be forced to wait in traffic longer than they previously have, if a sponsoring organization is not able to cover the costs of officers working traffic.
This is where things stand as of today. In the coming days there will be a lot of rumor, speculation, and as talks continue with city leaders, this plan may change. Please remember that these reductions are a direct result of increased pension costs and reduced revenue for the city. Revenue that I believe can be recouped, to some degree. I believe that we cannot continue to follow a “scorched earth” approach to meeting revenue shortfalls, which are happening because of a) a world-wide economic downturn and b) our city’s long term failure to deal with the growing pension obligation, including properly investing back when pension returns were solid. We, the city, need to cut expenses and increase revenue. I will be advocating for an increase in our property tax rate, to provide necessary revenue for public safety. Our property tax rate is purported to be (if not the lowest) among the lowest of any large city in the state.
I want you to know that you remain my top priority â€" your safety, your well-being, and by extension, the safety and welfare of all our citizens. We will weather this and any storm, literally and figuratively. No crisis changes the fact that I am honored to lead you and proud of all you do for our community, every day.
God Bless You All
John H. Rutherford, Sheriff

[vicupstate]

This will come to no good end.

But hey, at least we will have the lowest tax rate in the entire state!

What could possibly go wrong?

Exactly, low taxes will lead to prosperity and job creation which will greatly reduce crime, as no one will need to steal to obtain life's necessities.

[mtraininjax]

If you see a JSO officer, thank them for what they do, cause soon, they will be doing a lot more with fewer people around them.

Alvin, how is this better government? Even Peyton raised taxes or fees, is the city burning in hell really worth it?

[avonjax]

This is what conservative Jax wants.

[mtraininjax]

Uh, I disagree, not every conservative wants to compromise public safety for cuts. Brown needs to fix it and sell the solution, hey, time to put on the big boy pants and go toe to toe with the council and do what is best for Jacksonville.

Is cutting 300 workers at the JSO the best thing for Jacksonville? Brown's legacy is on the line, let's hope he has a better plan for this, than he did for the Jaguars.

[JeffreyS]

Mitt Romney is campaigning on how out of touch Obama is for wanting Police, Firefighters and teachers. To conservatives now a days a fireman pulling someone out of a burning building is just a Union leach abusing the public tit.

[avonjax]

 The crazy thing is most of the tea party people I have met are regular people. I'm sure some are wealthy I guess. Haven't met one yet. But it seems this group are the ones who are going to get the screws as their quest for "anti tax increases" continue to plague the entire country.  I don't love taxes, who does? But I'm a realist. How the heck else are you going to pay for services?
This tax cut mentality has NOT produced good results in the job market.
Don't believe the lies that companies are sitting on their money until the election for fear of health care reform or increased taxes. May small business but not big. They are sitting on their money because they think they can get more for less. That was exactly what the Big Electronic company I work for preached all of last year.
They have billions in cash by the way.
But that whole philosophy has backfired as I had proclaimed that it would. As our customer service and sales have suffered due to lack of employees and the national press has crucified the company, they have now made an about face. They realize the company will NOT survive unless they provide well trained employees and a decent amount of floor coverage.
But they still pay crap.
If Americans remain stupid about taxes it's going to be a fun few years in our future.
Pave your own road, Get a big fat hose to fight  your own fire, burn your garbage in your backyard, and put land mines in your yard to stave off burglars.
Now that's how you privatize.

[avonjax]

Mitt Romney is campaigning on how out of touch Obama is for wanting Police, Firefighters and teachers. To conservatives now a days a fireman pulling someone out of a burning build is just a Union leach abusing the public tit.

Of course it is. He probably has a private staff that will pull him out of a fire, teach his kids and armed guards to protect his home. Your problem is your too stupid to be rich, or you foolishly had a soul and wouldn't put thousands out of work and send jobs overseas, so why the hell should he care about you?

[BackinJax05]

God help us all. As much as I hate paying taxes (does anyone actually like them?), I'd be willing to pay to keep the CSO's working, and the transitional center open.

The CSOs do a great job responding to non-injury traffic accidents, and other functions where a police officer isnt absolutely necessary. Sure this will save money, but its also gonna increase response times cuz now JSO will have to respond to EVERYTHING.

As for the transition center, God help those struggling with drug issues who really want to get clean. Even the sheriff said there would be a problem with recivitism(?) Again, something like this I dont mind being taxed for. Addictions are a bitch to beat, and without this avenue of help, the problems will obviously become worse.

Thanx, Alvin, you sorry pathetic excuse for a mayor. You're a disgrace to us JU grads!

[RockStar]

Or we could stop persecuting the populace for the human condition and focus on violent crime...

[peestandingup]

Or we could stop persecuting the populace for the human condition and focus on violent crime...

That accounts for a lot of law enforcement presence in today's society unfortunately. It's sort of set up to justify their existence in a lot of ways. Especially when we're talking about stuff like writing tickets to random drivers for going 10 miles over the speed limit, seat belt fines (that do absolutely nothing but bring in revenue), busting people in that pesky "war on drugs" we've been throwing money at for decades, and other non-violent crimes. Don't forget that America only makes up around 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the overall prison population in the world.

I'm not saying taking away officers is a good thing, when put towards the right things that actually benefit society & aren't just the rackets the system has set in place for itself. There's a LOT of that in this country, and the world in general. Not just law enforcement, but tons of other stuff. The problem is identifying & pinpointing them, looking past the bullshit.

[Elwood]

Again, if the city had made their contributions to the pension fund during the strong economic years, then there would be no shortfall now. Fiscal responsibility, or the lack there of, is the real issue. Don't spend imaginary money, and fund what you contractually agreed to.

[carpnter]

Is he saying that the JSO will only save $3.3 million when 319 positions are eliminated?  That comes down to $10,345 per position, I doubt that any single position at the JSO costs only $10,245 after you factor in salary, insurance and all of the other taxes associated with a position.  Even at a very modest $30,000 per position you would save over $9.5 million on 319 positions.

[Dapperdan]

   I think about 75 of those positions are vacant anyway, so  he is not cutting that much as it makes it sound. He is getting rid of the Community Officers, which, if you look around folks, most cities have already done. Heck, some cities are about to pay their firefighters and police minimum wage. Some cities are even going bankrupt.
   This is not jsut a  Jacksonville issue. Property tax fallout and ballooning pension costs are the culprit. Its a nationwide issue. Raising taxes may help a little, but Payton kept raisng taxes and fees for this and that and it never seemd to help anything. We seem to keep having  budget shortfalls year after year after year, even with garbage taxes and stormwater fees.

[Dapperdan]

It could be alot worse.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-san-bernardino-bankruptcy-20120712,0,2433019.story