Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 4, 2009 16:33:47 GMT -6
from Yahoo/AP
National Guard may be needed due to
Financial meltdown in troubled Ala. county
By JAY REEVES,
Tue Aug 4, 2009
"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.
Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker ruled that leaders in Jefferson County — now trying to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing of historic proportions — could go ahead with plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale, who had filed a lawsuit that temporarily blocked spending cuts for his office.
About 1,000 county workers already are on unpaid leave because courts threw out a key county tax, and Hale has warned that reductions to his budget would mean fewer patrols by deputies and decreased courthouse security.
A spokesman for [Sheriff] Hale...told Gov. Bob Riley after the ruling that state assistance may be needed to perform basic law enforcement tasks once the department's current funding is exhausted in early September.
"We will certainly be looking at calling in the National Guard,"....
Hale may have to cut as many as 188 deputies and almost 300 civilian workers out of more than 700 employees total because of Boohaker's ruling...
Members of the county's legislative delegation scheduled a meeting to consider a replacement for the defunct occupational tax....
The crisis followed court rulings that blocked Jefferson County from using money from an occupational tax that provided some $75 million annually, or about 1/3 of its budget....
The budget crisis comes as the county seeks to avoid filing what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy ever, over some $3.9 billion in sewer bonds it can no longer afford to repay....elected leaders can't agree on a solution.
The sewer system is still operating normally, but the county has closed four satellite courthouses because of the loss of the revenue from the occupational tax. Residents are standing in line for hours at the main courthouse to do routine business like renewing car tags."
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_alabama_county_crisis_1
National Guard may be needed due to
Financial meltdown in troubled Ala. county
By JAY REEVES,
Tue Aug 4, 2009
"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The sheriff in Alabama's most populous county may call for the National Guard to help maintain order, a spokesman said Tuesday, after a judge cleared the way for cuts in the sheriff's budget and hopes dimmed for a quick end to a budget crisis.
Circuit Judge Joseph L. Boohaker ruled that leaders in Jefferson County — now trying to head off a municipal bankruptcy filing of historic proportions — could go ahead with plans to slash $4.1 million from the budget of Sheriff Mike Hale, who had filed a lawsuit that temporarily blocked spending cuts for his office.
About 1,000 county workers already are on unpaid leave because courts threw out a key county tax, and Hale has warned that reductions to his budget would mean fewer patrols by deputies and decreased courthouse security.
A spokesman for [Sheriff] Hale...told Gov. Bob Riley after the ruling that state assistance may be needed to perform basic law enforcement tasks once the department's current funding is exhausted in early September.
"We will certainly be looking at calling in the National Guard,"....
Hale may have to cut as many as 188 deputies and almost 300 civilian workers out of more than 700 employees total because of Boohaker's ruling...
Members of the county's legislative delegation scheduled a meeting to consider a replacement for the defunct occupational tax....
The crisis followed court rulings that blocked Jefferson County from using money from an occupational tax that provided some $75 million annually, or about 1/3 of its budget....
The budget crisis comes as the county seeks to avoid filing what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy ever, over some $3.9 billion in sewer bonds it can no longer afford to repay....elected leaders can't agree on a solution.
The sewer system is still operating normally, but the county has closed four satellite courthouses because of the loss of the revenue from the occupational tax. Residents are standing in line for hours at the main courthouse to do routine business like renewing car tags."
news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090804/ap_on_re_us/us_alabama_county_crisis_1