These funds are included in a Year 2000 budget which cuts property taxes for the fifth time in eight Steinhaus budgets. These initiatives, if implemented, are targeted to reduce the cost of housing out Dutchess County jail inmates to other county jails.
Criminal justice is one of the core responsibilities of county government.
By reorganizing the council and creating an effective structure of sub-committees, the council could engage in an intensive effort to develop initiatives which effectively reduce the number of prisoners boarded out to other counties and reduces the cost by at least half to the County during the year 2000. Further reductions can be anticipated in subsequent years. It is the consensus of our membership that these initiatives presented in the 2000 Executive budget will have an immediate impact on over crowding at the jail and enhance the performance of our criminal justice system. This program targets individuals in the 8 - 16 year old age bracket. Steinhaus indicated that some of the initiatives complement his administration's past initiatives.