The County has a history of making cuts, like it did in 2008 and 2017, but it has never come back to add positions once the economy improved. Without additional revenue, the County will be forced to make cuts in nearly every office, especially the big three: the Sheriff’s Office, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the Trial Courts. These three offices represent over 65% of the County’s budget. Any more reductions to these three will negatively impact the County's public safety ecosystem. Additional changes would be reducing the hours of operation, closing open positions, and not backfilling positions made vacant from turnover and retirements. The County may even have to resort to selling assets, such as buildings.

The Prosecutor's Office sees over 7,000 cases a year from all 13 law enforcement agencies in the County- including cases from Charlotte, Delta Township, Lansing, Grand Ledge, and Eaton Rapids. In every case it is the Prosecutor's responsibility to provide equal access to justice for victims, but also for those who have been accused of a crime. These services, and many more, that the Prosecutor’s Office performs will be negatively impacted without additional revenue because the office will likely see staffing cuts. The Prosecutor's Office currently cannot fill positions, with open positions sitting vacant for months on end and staff leaving to work for surrounding counties and the state that pay more. Without appropriate staff, the County Prosecutor will have to pick and choose what cases they can prosecute because they will not have the staff necessary to do what needs to be done.

The Sheriff's Office is only constitutionally mandated to provide a jail. What does that mean? If the County is forced to make significant staff reductions then one of the largest groups of employees impacted will be the Sheriff’s road patrol division. This reduction will impact coverage of both Out-County and Contracted Law Enforcement Services (provided to Delta Township, Windsor Township, Oneida Township, etc.) and many of the specialty programs they provide that the community has come to rely on. There is no path forward where these services are not cut, apart from securing additional revenue to support County operations. A complete loss of Out-County road patrol and law enforcement contracts will be devastating for our communities and represent the single largest reduction in law enforcement services in Eaton County history. The Sheriff's Office has struggled with being underpaid and forced to fill gaps in shift coverage with overtime. The combination of being underpaid and overworked has contributed to a steady hemorrhaging of deputies to other higher-paying counties and police agencies in the mid-Michigan area. While improvements have been made, without additional revenue these gains may be lost.

The Eaton County Sheriff's Office has been short 10 to 15 deputies for over 7 years. Every member - from the Road Patrol division, including those in the Command Unit - have been historically underpaid compared to other surrounding law enforcement agencies and counties. Given the demand on public safety and assuming every budgeted position was filled with a deputy, the Sheriff’s Office would still be understaffed. As our communities experience growth in industry and population the demands on public safety change with them. Given the constraints on resources, Eaton County has struggled to meet those demands and had to rely on overtime to provide the limited level of road patrol coverage available today.

The County utilized COVID money, deferred maintenance and security projects, lowered pension benefits, and not filled positions, allowing it to balance its budget. Grants from the state and federal government have allowed the County to expand the Youth Facility and get a recycling trailer. The county also used energy-saving projects like a solar installation to save 30% on its monthly energy bills. Even with grant help and cost-saving measures, the County cannot keep up with its expenses.