Declining coal revenues force KY sheriff to cease law enforcement duties

essentialsaltes

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Kirk paced back and forth, complaining he had not yet received a $75,000 payment from the fiscal court that should have been delivered in January. In addition, Kirk said his office is now required to pay for its own workers’ compensation insurance, retirement, and social security benefits. Those obligations, along with unemployment insurance and fringe benefits, add an additional $99,000 to his annual expenditures.

As a result, Kirk announced Monday he has temporarily ceased all law enforcement services provided by his office. He also laid off the office bookkeeper and limited office hours to 8 a.m. through noon on weekdays.

On Kirk’s personal Facebook page, he urged residents to “lock your doors, load your guns and get a biting, barking dog.”

Like many Eastern Kentucky counties, Pike County has seen a dramatic decline over the past five years in coal severance money. In fiscal year 2018, the county received $1.02 million from the Local Government Economic Assistance Fund, which returns a portion of state-collected mineral severance taxes to local governments. That’s down 82 percent from the $5.6 million it received in fiscal year 2012.

Meanwhile, Kirk said, his office is relying on faltering equipment as it struggles to make ends meet, and he soon expects to lose the one deputy he now employs.

“We made it because we run around with borrowed tires on our vehicles with the wires sticking out of them,” Kirk told the fiscal court. “We made it because we ran around with plugs in our tires, which is illegal to plug an emergency vehicle tire. But if you have no money, you make tough decisions, don’t you?”

No wonder them Duke boys keep getting away.
 

Radagast

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Who cares? Lower taxes and less government is all American states need I thought.

You're a Canadian. Your government provides RCMP services to the entire country.

Rural Americans get much less value out of their taxes.
 
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MyOwnSockPuppet

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Who cares? Lower taxes and less government is all American states need I thought.

Lower taxes and less government except for the military budget, which clearly needs to be at least that of the next thirteen countries combined (despite five of them being NATO members and three others being Global Partners). How big is the Kentucky National Guard? Three Brigades?
 
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rambot

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You're a Canadian. Your government provides RCMP services to the entire country.

Rural Americans get much less value out of their taxes.
So maybe they need to raise taxes?

Does that seem completely insane?
 
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Radagast

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So maybe they need to raise taxes?

Does that seem completely insane?

A lot of rural Americans are opposed to raising taxes, because they feel that those taxes don't provide any services to them.
 
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dgiharris

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A lot of rural Americans are opposed to raising taxes, because they feel that those taxes don't provide any services to them.
I feel rural Americans oppose taxes because they identify more so as Republicans and the Republican Kool-aid is laced with anti-tax rhetoric...

I'm constantly amazed at the GOP's ability to get their base to be against things that benefit them.

Reminds me of all the anti-Obama Care protests when those protesting didn't know that they were actually on Obama Care...

To be fair though, if I lived in one of these counties where there wasn't even money for our own municipalities then I'd be against taxes as well since you don't see the benefit. It's a lot easier to swallow the tax pill when you see your roads being built and your fire department being maintained...

In any event, I think that all local and State municipalities should be held to account and all their spending looked into with a fine tooth comb. Counties shouldn't have to go without law enforcement.
 
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rambot

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A lot of rural Americans are opposed to raising taxes, because they feel that those taxes don't provide any services to them.
So they are cutting off their nose to spite their face.....
 
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variant

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A lot of rural Americans are opposed to raising taxes, because they feel that those taxes don't provide any services to them.

Dollar for dollar rural Americans take more than they give. This however, is them not doing taxes to keep up the most basic government services on the local level (so it isn't exactly a federal or state problem).

A shortfall in coal revenue shouldn't cripple a county police department.
 
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Radagast

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This however, is them not doing taxes to keep up the most basic government services on the local level (so it isn't exactly a federal or state problem).

One of America's problems is this enormous wealth disparity between counties. Elsewhere in the world, local police are provided by the federal or state governments.
 
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Desk trauma

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A place goes bankrupt because of falling ressource prices?

Sounds like Venezuela. Must be because of socialism.
Don’t be absurd. When an area of the country that tends to vote republican falls afoul of economic change the industry it’s dependent on must be subsidized and the people are blameless. Unlike places such as Detroit which shows how awful Democrats policy’s are and all those do nothing takers need to move on with their lives!
 
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variant

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One of America's problems is this enormous wealth disparity between counties. Elsewhere in the world, local police are provided by the federal or state governments.

The main hurdle to federal and state police providing for local police work is the rural voter.
 
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