NEW JAIL, COMPUTERS TOP COUNTY BUDGET

JACKSON -- Cape Girardeau County's 1999 budget reflects new expenses connected with a $6.8 million jail expansion and new computer technology.

The County Commission has approved a $9.5 million general operating budget for 1999. The commission also approved a $2 million budget for road and bridge projects.

A capital improvements budget is expected to be presented to the commission in January, said Auditor H. Weldon Macke, the county's chief budget officer.

Revenue for 1999 is expected to be pretty flat, except for projected increases in sales taxes. Cape Girardeau County's budget is funded through a sales tax and fees. The county has no property tax.

Macke has budgeted a 5 percent increase in sales tax for 1999.

"It's hard to calculate an increase in sales," Macke said. "It's certainly not an exact science."

In 1998, sales tax revenues increased by 7 percent from the previous year, but in 1996, the increase was just 2 percent.

Expenditures in the 1999 budget are about $500,000 more than the budget for 1998. Macke explained that the increase is due in large part to anticipated payments on construction bonds.

The county also has a number of computers and new technology in the budget, in preparation for the Year 2000.

At the end of November, the county sold $6.9 million in bonds to begin construction of the jail expansion. The first payment on those bonds is due in June. Another is due in November. Those payments will come out of the county's budget.

The county has also budgeted an additional $80,000 for prisoner housing at other facilities during construction.

Eventually, the expanded jail is expected to produce revenue for the county. The U.S. Marshal's Service has promised to house federal prisoners at the jail and will be paying a housing fee.

Also impacting the sheriff's department budget this year is the elimination of the crime reduction fund.

In September, the Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges last month advised judges against requiring defendants to pay money into county crime reduction funds. The commission said there was no state law or constitutional provision allowing for payments.

In Cape Girardeau County, the fund had generated about $100,000 annually and was used to purchase equipment for the county sheriff's department.

As a result, those expenses will be included in the regular budget and come from county revenues.

The money is available, Macke said.

Cape Girardeau County has more than $5 million in a reserve account, money that isn't needed for regular county business.

That amount of money is what allowed the county to borrow money for the jail expansion without asking voters for a tax increase.

The county also has entered an agreement with the Missouri Department of Conservation to build a Conservation Center in the north county park. The county is securing financing for the project. The state will make payments.

The county is also pursuing construction of a new juvenile detention facility. Details are still in the works.