COQUILLE - Two administrators unveiled Coos County Sheriff Andy Jackson's preliminary layoff plan Tuesday to help the county out of a fiscal nightmare due to a $7 million shortfall.

The proposal, which calls for capping jail prisoners at 99 - from a daily average of 160 - and laying off 32 employees, was outlined in a four-page memo from Jackson to the Coos County Board of Commissioners by Capt. Dave McDaniel and jail Administrator Brad Cook.

Jackson did not attend Tuesday's meeting due to what McDaniel said was a conflicting appointment.

The layoffs, in combination with a carry over balance of nearly $570,000, would save the county about $2.2 million, McDaniel said.

But the Sheriff's Office is not happy about the plan and is not recommending it be put in place.

“It is the position of the Sheriff that without these positions the community will be placed at enormous risk,” Jackson wrote, urging commissioners to look elsewhere first for savings.

McDaniel agreed.

“This is a very safe community that we have right now to live in,” McDaniel said. “Frankly, I am really scared of what is coming as far as the crime rate. If we end up catching somebody they are not going to stay in jail.”

While the commissioners agreed the plan would drastically curtail public safety, commissioners John Griffith, Nikki Whitty and Kevin Stufflebean argued the sheriff's reductions did not go far enough, saying the carry over balance was a one-time savings that would not be realized in coming years.

On Jan. 3, the commissioners announced that due to Congress' failure to reauthorize a federal timber payments subsidy program, the county likely would lay off more than 100 of its 410 employees, from all departments, by March 1. All county department heads have been asked to present a bare bones budget based on the minimum level of state-mandated services.

For the last several years, Oregon's congressional delegation has been trying to reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act. The subsidy program shuttled about $6 million to the Coos County general fund this fiscal year, and $1 million to the road department.

The revenue accounted for about 45 percent of Coos County's general fund. The 6-year-old timber payments law expired in September. Congress has yet to renew it. In the Pacific Northwest, the subsidy came about to make up for severe restrictions placed on logging after legislation passed in the 1990s to protect endangered species.

The commissioners and Sheriff's Office disagreed over what the sheriff believes to be his state-mandated duties, and to the degree in which he suggested cuts. Jackson stated his office was mandated to operate a county jail, issue subpoenas and warrants, provide search and rescue operations and court security, investigate child abuse cases and maintain a records division.

In the days ahead, the commissioners plan to scrutinize those. Griffith said, due to state laws, citizens are “stuck with” aspects of government they don't want, such as taxes, whereas some aspects of public safety, no matter how commonplace, aren't mandatory.

“The issue is that every service provided by the county is critical, whether we are talking juvenile department, patrol, jail, mental health or public health,” Stufflebean said. “They are all critical services or we would not be providing them now.”

The sheriff's reduction plan includes letting 16 jailers go, laying off eight patrol deputies and one patrol corporal, among others, leaving 21 jailers to care for prisoners and 11 deputies to patrol the roads instead of 19 (See sidebar).

With the layoffs, McDaniel painted a vastly different landscape for the county when it comes to law enforcement. A poster board nearby spelled out a list of reported crimes deputies would, and would not, respond to if the layoffs occurred (see sidebar).

“I am going out on a limb saying we will respond to major crimes - murder, rape, robbery, felonies in progress, aggravated assault, sex offenses, arson and domestic assaults,” McDaniel said. “That will depend on availability and there will be a time delay.”

McDaniel said the cuts would likely also impact contracted services the county provides including 911 duties for police in Myrtle Point, Bandon and Powers, patrolling the city of Lakeside, contracts with timber companies, the Coquille Indian Tribe and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Whitty wanted to know how far along the Sheriff's Office was on a plan to create a special taxing district for law enforcement and a move to consolidate 911 services to save money. Both topics have been discussed for years. McDaniel said the merging of 911 duties was on hold due to a lack of funding and that a tax district was still being discussed but had significant hurdles in its path. Griffith said the tax measures were complicated by voter-approved measures 5 and 50, which severely limits taxing Oregon residents.

Stufflebean asked Cook if he had considered renting jail beds to other counties. Cook said talks with Jackson County to rent 30 beds per year for $600,000 fell through. Jackson County wanted 50 beds guaranteed, but the Sheriff's Office was not willing to make that commitment.

It doesn't matter anyway, Whitty noted, because in lieu of the expired timber payments Jackson County nixed paying for rented jail beds in other counties.

Whitty said she wanted to make sure the jail would make sure to keep prisoners from other counties, over Coos County criminals, because it generated revenue.

“How can I kick out Coos County inmates that should be in jail to rent a bed to another county?” Cook asked, noting an Oregon county did just that, and the prisoner murdered his family.

“Because you're getting paid for it and you are keeping a person working,” Whitty retorted.

“I don't agree,” Cook said.

Griffith took issue with the wording of Jackson's letter, which suggested the commissioners were to blame for the layoffs.

“We're not the ones who shut down all the federal logging and we didn't not reauthorize the county payments. Congress did those things,” Griffith said. “We have to make choices as to where to put the discretionary money. But our hands are tied.”

Griffith also called on state representatives to contact Gov. Ted Kulongoski to share the state's $2 billion increase with the 18 counties impacted by the lack of county payments. Griffith said the total cost of the timber payments statewide was around $98 million annually.

When Stufflebean pressed McDaniel about not making enough cuts, the captain said the office was open to other suggestions, but said the $2.2 million in cuts was already unacceptable. He turned to Whitty, who lives in rural Coos County, and asked her what she would do if a prowler climbed into her window at 2 a.m.

“I'd shoot him,” Whitty drawing much laughter.

McDaniel laughed too, but then got serious.

“I know we joke about that,” he said, “but those are some real issues. There are a lot of folks that don't have weapons in this county. The fear is going to increase drastically.”

The commissioners plan to meet with the Sheriff's office again on Thursday at 8 a.m. to continue the layoff talks.