Pubdate: Fri, 05 May 2000 Source: Hawk Eye, The (IA) Copyright: 2000 The Hawk Eye Contact: attn: Letters, P.O. Box 10, Burlington IA 52601-0010 Fax: 319-754-6824 Feedback: http://www.thehawkeye.com/hawkeye/forms/lettoed.html Website: http://www.thehawkeye.com/ Author: Mike Wilson, MAP's link to Iowa articles is: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ia SLAGLE TO JUSTICE: WHERE IS THE MONEY GOING? WASHINGTON -- Southeast Iowa officials seeking additional funding to fight the war on drugs came away from a meeting Thursday with U.S. Department of Justice officials with one question: Where is the money going? Burlington City Manager Bruce Slagle took the lead in asking justice department representatives Patrick Coleman and Eric Acres why the state of Iowa siphons so much off the top before dispersing Byrne Grant funds to local communities. Slagle said Iowa gives less than 41 percent of the grant money it receives to multijurisdictional drug task forces like the Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force in Des Moines County. That compares to 64 percent in Illinois, 70 percent in Minnesota and nearly 51 percent in Missouri, Slagle said. The low percentage of money getting through to Iowa cities has made it difficult to maintain manpower to combat drugs, he said. "It has led to cuts on the street at the local level in the fight on drugs," he said. The Southeast Iowa Narcotics Task Force initially received grant money to fund five investigators: two from Burlington, two from Des Moines County and one from West Burlington. Now, Slagle said, the money the agency receives is just enough to fund three investigators, one from each entity. "Very simply, from where we're sitting there has to be some level set here so funding to local jurisdictions is sufficient to fight the war on drugs," he said. West Burlington Mayor Hans Trousil chimed in, telling Coleman and Acres something must be done to restore funding. "Five officers was not enough; three is unacceptable," he said. "We're seeing too many young people get wasted on this stuff, and we need to get back that level of funding to get back to five." Unfortunately, pleas for help may not have helped. Coleman said the Byrne Grant is allocated based on a formula including population. Each state receives .25 percent of what is appropriated by the federal government, with the remainder being distributed by population, he said. Iowa this year has received $5.63 million, a reduction of about 3.5 percent from the year before when the state received more than $5.8 million. When asked why the amount decreased, Coleman said, "I honestly can't tell you why." Coleman said another formula determined the minimum requirement for funds the state passes through to local agencies, and based on that formula, Iowa is on the mark. "The track record for Iowa is pretty good," he said. Coleman said the state can keep 10 percent of what it receives from the Byrne Grant to fund the Governor's Alliance on Substance Abuse, but has only held back about 6 percent. All states are required to take 5 percent for things like the Department of Public Safety, fingerprint technology and records integration. The rest, Coleman contends, is reaching Iowa's local drug fighting agencies, something the Iowa delegation disagrees with. The delegation was asked whether it has used other resources, such as the COPS grant. Slagle said Burlington has hired officers with COPS funding but was forced to turn down the last grant because of concerns with the city's ability to continue funding for the program after the federal dollars stop. Under the COPS program, cities can receive funding over a three-year period to hire police officers, but the funding decreases incrementally each year until the entire cost of the officer must be paid by the city. Trousil said West Burlington, which also has hired officers with the COPS grant, is in the same boat as Burlington in being worried about assuming funding when the federal money stops. They were told the National Office of Drug Control Policy may have funds available for high intensity drug areas, but there are only eight areas that have received that designation in Iowa, the closet to southeast Iowa being Linn County. Chani Wiggins, legislative assistant to Sen. Tom Harkin, urged the delegation to be vocal about their needs for continued funding for the war on drugs. She said while there is a proposal to cut $100 million from the Byrne Grant, it likely will be restored by an amendment offered by Harkin. She also said funding will continue for the COPS program. "We need your support," she said. "Send us a letter we can hold up on the Senate floor telling them this is important to our people back home. It makes a big difference." - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D