Batt’s Promises Create Budget Dilemma Juvenile Justice Workers Say They Will Have Hard Time Meeting New Duties While Property Tax Cap Reduces Revenues

Crackdowns on both property taxes and juvenile thugs: These were the two cornerstones of Republican Gov. Phil Batt’s 1994 campaign.

Last week, they collided head-on.

County officials warned on Wednesday that Batt’s new property tax restrictions could thwart their role in juvenile justice.

With only a 3 percent budget increase allowed this upcoming year, some county officials fear they will not have enough money to handle the additional responsibilities they’ve been given under the state’s new juvenile justice system.

“This is a chance to do the right thing, but you can’t do that without the money,” said Twin Falls Commissioner Brent Reinke.

The new Department of Juvenile Justice was created in the wake of two murders by young teenagers, amid a public perception that juvenile violence is skyrocketing.

The department will be responsible for handling the state’s most dangerous juveniles - those the courts believe need some form of detention.

But the counties will now be responsible for more juvenile probation services - many of which used to be handled and paid for by the state, said Kootenai County Clerk Tom Taggart.

Under the 3 percent cap, Reinke said his county will be allowed to add just $192,000 to its multimillion-dollar budget.

That money will have to accommodate not only the new juvenile justice responsibilities but it will also have to handle the rising costs of all other operations.

Not all county officials are so concerned.

Kootenai County’s Tom Taggart said officials here expect to have enough money to handle the new responsibilities - at least for the upcoming year.

To ease the financial burden, the state will disburse $2.7 million in grants to the 44 counties. The counties will also receive a share of $4 million in cigarette tax revenues.

Kootenai County officials expect to get more than $500,000 of that money.

“They appear to be sufficient for what our office says they need to get the job done,” Taggart said.

But even when lawmakers approved that assistance, skeptics warned that it would not be enough to underwrite a juvenile system that would truly punish serious offenders and offer help for those with a chance to avoid real trouble.

Former state Rep. Michael Johnson, who was part of the legislative majority that approved both the 3 percent cap and the new juvenile justice system, has since become director of the new Department of Juvenile Corrections.

He has repeatedly tried to reassure Commissioner Reinke and others about their money concerns.

But he admits the 3 percent restriction on annual increases in property taxfinanced budgets raises serious questions about success for the campaign to unify and toughen Idaho’s fragmented juvenile justice system.

“It’s one of those things that’s going to have a rolling effect across the state,” Johnson said during the initial session of the department’s State and Counties Development Group, which is charged with working out the details of the new juvenile justice program.

“It’s really going to become a problem, and I don’t know how to solve it,” Johnson conceded. “There are a lot of questions, and we don’t have the answers.”

Johnson said he intended to discuss a possible exemption from the cap for county juvenile justice funding with Batt - even though the governor has predicted that the budget cap will be the most effective part of his campaign to check escalating property taxes.

Giving the counties relief from the budget cap would help close any financial gap that could thwart the juvenile justice reform drive.

But it would also be the first crack in Batt’s property tax-limiting plans.

, DataTimes