As State and Local Government tax revenues continue to decline it was only a matter of time before we see stories like this become a reality.
To say that Cairo, the seat of Alexander County, Ill., has seen better days is a cruel understatement. The county of 8,000 people is half-a-million dollars in the red, and the recession has made a bad situation worse.
Cairo’s police department has just had most of its cruisers repossessed, reports CBS News National Correspondent Dean Reynolds. The recession has reduced tax revenues all over the country, forcing government agencies to cut their budgets. A survey of police departments found 66 percent of them were facing cuts this year.
“God willing, we’re going to protect these people and we’re gonna continue with what we got. We’re used to struggling. We’re used to struggling,” said Sheriff David Barkett with a laugh.
The situation got so bad this month that the bank repossessed five of his seven cruisers. Four of them sit in the bank parking lot now, shorn of their emergency lights, antennas and seals. In addition to losing his cruisers, the sheriff lost three-fourths of his staff, most of them deputies,
to budget cuts. At its peak, the staff had 29 full and part timers. Now there are five.“I’d say it’s very extreme when it effects the protection of lives and property,” said Barkett. [...] (Source: CBS News) hat tip Butch
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