FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Allen County government officials outlined their legislative platform to area lawmakers Tuesday.
The priorities include long-term, sustainable highway funding, more money for alternative sentencing and recovery works grants, and an amendment to state law that would let the County’s Board of Commissioners appoint all of the members of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Board of Health.
For road funding, the County recommends that traditional streams of revenue be reviewed, and new streams of revenue be studied and adopted, adding that counties which have enacted local road funding adoption tools, such as the wheel tax and surtax, should receive a benefit in the distribution process of new revenues.
As for alternative sentencing, the County “strongly supports” continued and increased funding in the 2017 biennium budget for alternative sentencing and Recovery Works grants, which provide programs and services for level 6 felony offenders who are now serving their sentences at the local level rather than the state level.
The County is also seeking modifications in grant guidelines that would enable it to meet “all needs” at the local level brought on by criminal sentencing reform, including grant funds utilized for “bricks and mortar” facilities that provide alternative sentencing and the ability for local criminal justice providers to apply for Department of Mental Health and Addiction funding for which currently only Community Mental Health Centers can apply.
And concerning the Board of Health, the County argues that the board is funded through the County’s General Fund and other user fees, so Commissioners believe that the appointments should rest in hands of the unit which funds the department.
