Gainesville, MO. – The Ozark County Sheriff Cass Martin announced on Wednesday, August 10, 2022 that the Sheriff’s Department will be cutting 30% of their workforce due to budgetary issues.
The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department has been having budgetary troubles since earlier this summer, announcing in early July that they would reduce the amount of non-violent calls responded to due to the increase of gas prices. While the average gas price in Missouri had been consistently falling for months and the percentage of inflation has decreased, this has not had enough of an impact for the Sheriff’s Department, which had been running on a very tight budget.
The Sheriff’s Department has laid off seven permanent employees, including two deputies. The Ozark County Commission is considering placing an increased sales tax on the November 2024 ballot to raise funding for the Department. The current sales tax provides $400,000 to the department that requires roughly one million dollars to run yearly.
Some citizens have voiced their concern over the departments ability to budget, citing how the $2.50 per gallon of gas was budgeted for 2022 when the price at the time was over $3 per gallon.
