Public safety dominates next year’s budget

LANCASTER — Fairfield County commissioners approved a $46.5 million general-fund budget for next year, 2 percent less than the current $47.5 million budget.

The budget funds government operations in the county of about 152,000 residents, with nearly 40 percent spent on the 150-employee sheriff’s office and jail.

The budget decrease next year owes to onetime items funded in the current budget, including the purchase and remodeling of buildings; cybersecurity improvements; lawenforcement radios and furniture; and fixtures and equipment for the new $35 million jail and sheriff’s office that opened this year, said county Administrator Carri Brown.

Next year’s budget will include $120,000 for the sheriff’s office to build its own firing range, and $20,000 for the continued transition from cruisers to sportutility vehicles.

The location and other details of the firing range are still being developed, Chief Deputy Alex Lape said. All law-enforcement officers use shooting ranges to fulfill annual firearms training and qualification required by the state.

Fairfield County deputies and several local police departments had been using the police shooting range owned by the village of Baltimore until the village council closed it this year after neighbors complained about stray bullets hitting a pole barn, a tractor and a house.

The new budget also includes: $24,000 for the multicounty Major Crimes Unit to match state funds for a jail diversion program in response to the opioid epidemic; $100,000 to build a tower to support radio communications; and $59,000 for the county prosecutor to hire another employee.

The budget reflects the priority placed on public safety, Commissioner Steve Davis said.