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Miami County Sheriff lays off 10 employees — including five deputies

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By Nancy Bowman, Staff Writer Updated 12:58 AM Tuesday, May 19, 2009

TROY— Miami County Sheriff Charles Cox said Monday, May 18, budget shortfalls are forcing him to lay off five road deputies and five corrections officers and delay hiring for five vacant corrections officer positions.

The layoffs, to help reduce an estimated $600,000 budget shortfall this year, are effective May 29. Affected employees learned of the layoffs, made according to seniority, Monday in meetings with department administrators.

The layoffs join those in Shelby and Montgomery counties in recent weeks.

“We always hope that something like this is not going to affect us, but with this struggling economy, taxes down and layoffs all over, it finally hit us,” Cox said. “Safety forces is one thing you never want to lay off, but reality is, we still have to be able to pay them.”

Cox said the need for cuts was obvious as work began on the 2010 department tax budget, which will be reviewed in the next month by the county commissioners.

“We discovered we were going to be short because we had been asked by the commissioners to turn back 4 percent of the budget by year’s (2009) end,” he said.

The sheriff’s annual budget for operations, including the county jail in downtown Troy and incarceration facility, is just over $10 million. Today, the department employs 135 with 70 corrections officers, 53 sworn officers and 12 clerical and other staff.

In the annual budget preparation letter sent to elected officials, department heads and agency directors, the commissioners said they are concerned “about significant” shortfalls in revenue that could approach $2 million, causing “great concern” about whether a balanced budget in 2010 will be possible.

“We’ve asked for an additional 4 percent return in 2009, and we ask for the same, if not more, in 2010,” the commissioners wrote in the April memo.

Commission President John “Bud” O’Brien said Monday layoffs by other departments are not planned at this time, though positions are being cut through attrition.

O’Brien said commissioners were assured by the sheriff that the cut of road deputies would not affect adversely services to the public. “We appreciate the sheriff being proactive,” he said.

Whether more budget reductions will be necessary this year depends on how county revenues look, O’Brien said.

Cox said he could reduce the number of corrections officers because one of the four inmate pods at the incarceration facility between Troy and Piqua is closed because of fewer prisoners.

Capt. Greg Johnston, with the department for more than 30 years, will retire at month’s end. Cox said plans are, as a result of that retirement, to bring back one of the deputies laid off sometime this year.

Deputies laid off will be put on the sheriff’s patrol so they can maintain their certification.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2292 or nbowman@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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