Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office Faces Budget Woes

The conference room in the Gilmer County Court House was packed with opinions as well as people as the Board of Commissioners rolled up their sleeves, ready to go to work on an ailing budget. Gilmer county’s situation has become increasingly grim, with projected revenues off at six months into the year. Crowding the seats along the wall, citizens seemed to listen uneasily, some shifting in chairs, others asking pointed questions about the recent budget report.

That report documents three departments are now over budget, one of which is the Sheriff’s Office. The report details a 3 percent overage for the sheriff, which amounts to roughly $82,000. Other departments over-budget are the road and fire departments.

Gilmer County Sheriff Stacy Nicholson felt some areas would improve. He says when the renovations on the detention center are complete, the county can start receiving inmates from other areas to generate some much-needed revenue. Just last month, Gilmer commissioners approved a contract, proposed by Nicholson, to house 23 to 24 Fulton County inmates for $35 a day. Gilmer County would be responsible for transporting the inmates and would also have no say as to which inmates (violent or non-violent crimes) the county could accept. However, that arrangement is now on-hold due to the ongoing renovation at the county detention center. To add to that, several Gilmer County inmates are now being housed in Murray County at taxpayer expense, due to the construction work. Nicholson says the renovations should be complete before or by mid-August.

When asked point-blank if he felt he could make his budget by year’s end, the Sheriff admitted he had concerns.

“The two places we’re running over budget (on) are gas and vehicle maintenance, two things we have a hard time controlling”

Nicholson closed by saying, “…it’s my ultimate goal to bring us back under budget.”

FYN will continue to follow this story and will update it before the week ends.