“The financial condition of the 911 Emergency (E911) and Jail Funds remains poor,” the audit states.

The cost of crime appears to be increasingly hampering Miller County’s budget and what the county can do for the good of its residents.

A routine state audit of the county’s coffers, mainly focused on the year ending Dec. 31, 2017, gave a dire outlook for the financial condition of the 911 Emergency and Jail Funds being subsidized with a “significant” amount of restricted Capital Improvement Fund monies.

“The financial condition of the 911 Emergency (E911) and Jail Funds remains poor,” the audit states, revealing the county used $357,169 of revenue from its capital improvement sales tax to cover the jail and $658,733 to cover E911 in 2017.

There is nothing illegal about that; the county is allowed to use capital improvement funds in this way as long as they specify how the funds are used, something the county has promised to do a better job of going forward.

What is troubling though is the greater impact the pull of E911 and Jail operations are having on the Capital Improvement Fund. The problem is not growing expenses, according to Miller County Presiding Commissioner Tom Wright, but declining revenues.

“It’s astonishing to me how much we spend on people who break the law. It’s increasing every year. People need to realize that. We’re not wasting money. Court costs are going up, and it’s greatly impacting what we can do good,” said Wright.

The issue with E911 is a problem for many dispatching agencies across the state and is well-documented. With so many people abandoning landline telephones, the existing tax on telephones to fund 911 services has been in significant decline.

While the state legislature passed a bill in the last session to authorize counties to seek a similar tax on cell phones, Wright was not positive about getting any new tax passed in Miller County. The state also implemented a new 3 percent surcharge on prepaid cell phones, but is still figuring out implementation.

On a bright note for Miller County’s E911, they are among the counties in the state that have paid to upgrade their computer systems so that they can locate 911 callers on cell phones. Miller County’s wealthier neighbor Camden County is one of 28 counties in Missouri that have not made the upgrade to quickly locate cell phone callers, according to prior reporting from the Associated Press.

According to Wright, the problem with the jail is declining reimbursement from the state for housing inmates until their cases are adjudicated, however long that may take. Two years or more is not uncommon. If the inmate is found not guilty or the charges are dropped at some point, the county must pay the fare for housing that person. If the inmate is convicted, the state is supposed to reimburse the county for housing the prisoner who is then transferred to Missouri Department of Corrections.

Every year, the amount the state owes the county for housing inmates accused of breaking state laws increases because the state does not have the money to reimburse counties for all of the inmates who are convicted, said Wright.

“It greatly impacts our abilities to do anything,” said Wright. “Every year that number [money owed to the county by the state for housing inmates] climbs, and it greatly affects the bottom line. We have to cover the cost. It’s a big concern.”

In the county’s official response to state auditor’s, Miller County officials also cited declining revenues because not all beds in the facility were filled.

To help improve the financial situation, the county did increase the daily rate to other counties for the boarding of prisoners.

The per diem rate was increased to $45 from $38.50.

The county’s general revenue fund has an annual operating budget of approximately $3,500,000, separate from the Road and Bridge Fund which is funded through a separate property tax levy and CART funds from the state fuel tax.

The capital improvement sales tax brings in about $2 million annually, and roughly half was used to cover E911 and the jail in 2017. According to the state audit, total disbursements for the Jail Fund in 2017 were $1,145,419 and $858,988 for E911. Those expenses are pretty stable from year to year, Wright said.

From the capital improvement fund though, another $300,000 is paid out to tax increment financing districts (TIFs) in the county, helping subsidize those commercial developments in the lake area.

The county also has annual bond payments of approximately $350,000 for its jail and courthouse buildings. Those projects date back to 1996 and 2002 but were refinanced by the county commission in 2015 for a better interest rate. That refinance reduced the county’s bond payments from a previous $700,000 each year.

In the next three to four years, Wright anticipated the capital improvement sales tax subsidy of E911 and the jail will have a growing impact on the county’s overall budget as maintenance needs arise for its buildings. The county also has an older building that it would like to renovate for office space, but its ability to do so is being impacted by the other draws on the capital improvement fund.