A 23 percent increase proposed to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office budget could mean a three to five mil increase in property taxes. The budget proposal is part of the Saline County Commission’s plan to create a realistic budget for the Sheriff’s Office in 2018.

According to documents provided by county administrator Rita Deister, the 2018 budget could see an almost $1.4 million increase in the department’s total budget with an additional one-time technology improvement upgrade in the works.

In 2017, County Commissioners approved the Sheriff’s Office budget of $6,825,409, shy of the $7,178,329 the department spent the previous year. According to Sheriff Roger Soldan, the increase would help provide operating expenses, such as contract housing, medical care for inmates, meals, inmate travel and overtime pay.

The majority of the increase, around $700,000, will be allocated to contract housing. The Saline County Jail can hold a maximum of 192 inmates. As of this morning, they have 186 inmates on site and over 90 contracted out to surrounding counties. Sheriff Soldan said he expects those numbers to continue to rise, af they have the past few years.

A one-time technology upgrade was also discussed. According to Sheriff Soldan, a tech upgrade is needed to handle the 40 body cameras worn by the officers. The Sheriff’s Office current equipment is only designed to handle video surveillance on the 12 patrol cars.

“It is video evidence, it is not something we can really take a chance with,” Soldan said.

Funding law enforcement isn’t subject to a tax lid, making a budget increase of this size possible.