Letter to the Editor – Larry McNeely, Pattonsburg

I am responding to an article in the March 18 edition of the Gallatin North Missourian on page 16, regarding "Jail looks to finish setting up video court." In that article, it included a financial summary of the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail.

That published summary, I guess provided by jail budget staff, stated that Daviess County "saved" $71,520 to taxpayers so far in 2009." This article also states that the "sales tax" income collected on county residents of Daviess and DeKalb was $51,398.52 for the month of January 2009 alone. (That appears to be over $617,000 annually). How could we have saved $71,520 in taxpayer funds when a sales tax collected $51,398.52 from local taxpayers in January 2009?

Nowhere in this article, or for that matter in any press release or article, from the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail folks ever has included the cost of repaying the bonds that we have indebted ourselves and children, in paying the millions of dollars for this "penal colony."

I think, if I remember right, we paid over three million dollars for this place and what do we have to show for it, except a huge public debt?

Also, according to this article, the Regional Jail administrators have over a million dollars on deposit in "CD" accounts earning interest income. Why? If we are paying interest on the bonds that financed this mess, why not use these funds to pay off these expensive bonds early? Remember, every time you buy a soda, gas, sandwich, gasoline, new automobile, groceries, utility sales tax or even a cup of coffee in Daviess County, you are being taxed a sales fee that goes to repay these public bonds. Why is this never discussed in any of the reports issued by the Regional Jail staff? Enough is enough!

Larry McNeely, Pattonsburg

Budget Director’s Response

The Daviess/DeKalb County Regional Jail District(DDCRJ) welcomes the opportunity to respond to Mr. McNeely’s questions.

The $71,520 that has been saved by Daviess County in 2009 is based on what Daviess County would have paid for their inmate housing had DDCRJ not existed. Daviess and DeKalb County pay no fees to house at DDCRJ and saved close to $800,000 in 2008.

The sales tax collected is, by Jail District Board vote, dedicated solely to repaying the bond debt. In securing the bond financing DDCRJ had to guarantee at least five years of interest payments before any early repayments, without this guarantee it would have been impossible to sell the bonds to investors. We are in the fourth year of the bond financing and by the end of 2009 will have paid over $1million in principle on the bond. We are still on schedule to have the bond paid off in seven to eight years, thus reducing interest paid and saving the tax payers money.

Once the bond is paid the sales tax can then be removed and the jail can operate on funds it generates through housing for other counties and cities.

These facts have been discussed many times in this paper, but we will try to keep the public better informed.

David Tolen – DDCRJ Budget Director