Sale Of 2 Choppers Helps Solve Sheriff’s Budget Gap Reserve Funds, Sales Tax Transfer Of $342,000 Part Of Solution, Too

A $604,000 hole in the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department was plugged Wednesday with the sale of two helicopters and the juggling of county money.

“We’ll be able to get through the end of the year,” County Commissioner Steve Hasson said.

The helicopters - both single-engine 269A’s retired from the sheriff’s department four years ago - together sold for about $120,000.

The county will net about $112,000, while the state gets the other $8,000 because of grants it awarded during their original purchase.

Sheriff John Goldman said his department found about $150,000 in reserves. About $50,000 are extra revenues generated during 1995 for housing inmates from other jurisdictions, while $100,000 was left over in an account used to pay the Spokane Police Department for shared services, such as the records room.

County commissioners agreed to transfer the remaining $342,000 from sales tax revenues to the sheriff’s department.

The budget crisis primarily was due to overtime paid to deputies and corrections officers handling heavier caseloads, Goldman said.

“The men and women who provided these services throughout the year did a wonderful job,” he said. “I’m just glad the commissioners did the right thing and supported their efforts.”

Four bids were opened Tuesday on the helicopters.

A Colfax man - Glenn Myers, owner of Wings and Things - was the high bidder at $61,105 for one, while Big Valley Aviation Inc. of Stockton, Calif., won the second aircraft by bidding $59,121.

No one met the minimum $45,000 bid on surplus parts offered as part of a third package, a county purchasing official said. The parts will be rebid.

The sheriff’s department abandoned its aerial reconnaissance program four years ago, opting to put more deputies on the streets. The helicopters had been in storage.

“I’m glad to get anything for them,” Hasson said. “A hundred thousand dollars is a hundred thousand dollars is a hundred thousand dollars.”

, DataTimes