Drug battle costs Westmoreland taxpayers $19 million
Nearly a quarter of all property taxes collected by Westmoreland County goes to fight the ongoing drug epidemic, Controller Jeffrey Balzer said Thursday.
He calculated the nearly $19 million in tax dollars represents the cost of addiction on local government services. He called the figure “conservative.”
A review of criminal justice department spending throughout 2016 revealed that 23 cents of every tax dollar the county collected was allocated for law enforcement, investigations, incarceration, supervision and other programs directly related to drug addiction.
“These are just conservative numbers,” Balzer said. “The numbers are probably higher.”
The review asked county departments that have direct contact with drug abuse to calculate how much money they spend on programs such as incarcerating inmates charged or convicted with drug crimes at the county jail, prosecuting drug cases and other impacts on the local justice system.
It does not include spending on private treatment programs or take into consideration the larger issue of drug abuse that has yet to impact the courts or county government, Balzer said.
“The most important takeaway from this exercise should be that drug crime affects us all. If you have been fortunate enough not to have been touched personally by this tragic epidemic, you still are affected by it,” Balzer said.
Overall, the drug-related costs totaled $18.8 million last year and represented about 6 percent of the county's $300 million budget and more than 23 percent of the roughly $82 million collected in county property taxes.
“It's basically affected the economy of the county, and it's not getting any better,” said Tim Phillips, executive director of the county's drug overdose task force. “This is just a small piece of the pie in the system. It doesn't address those who are aren't in the (justice) system. This is a public health crisis that affects everyone and this just proves that.”
Long-term fix
At an Overdose Awareness Day event Thursday at St. Clair Park in Greensburg, attendees said the cost was necessary to fight the drug epidemic.
“That's a lot of money to be spent on something like that, but it's something that you have to do,” said Walter Maynard, a Latrobe resident who volunteers with the Addiction Ministry Network.
Maynard said there should be strict mandatory rehabilitation programs for people treated for overdoses.
“The money needs to be spent, and it needs to be spent in a good way,” he said.
Brailynn Collins, a recovering addict from Delmont, said long-term treatment options should be the focus of government spending, rather than short-term fixes such as Narcan, the drug that can reverse overdose symptoms.
“There's no halfway house, there's no recovery house, there's nothing,” she said.
The heroin epidemic needs to be stopped, no matter the cost, said Michelle McCallum of Hempfield, who has watched one of her family members struggle with addiction.
“Whatever it takes to save someone. If you can save one person, it's worth it,” she said.
Crunching numbers
In calculating the estimated costs, Balzer said staff determined that on average last year about 65 percent of those incarcerated at the county jail were the result of either drug use or crimes associated with supporting a drug habit.
Almost $10 million spent at the jail was related to the drug epidemic, Balzer said.
Meanwhile, District Attorney John Peck reported that about 60 percent of his office's prosecutions were for drug-related cases. Public Defender Wayne McGrew estimated that 80 percent of the defendants represented by his office were involved in drug charges or other related cases.
Coroner Ken Bacha reported that his office spent $522,000 last year investigating a record-high 174 fatal drug overdoses. Drug-related deaths could be higher this year. Through Aug. 7, the coroner's office confirmed 66 fatal overdoses with another 49 deaths suspected to be related to drugs.
Officials estimated more than half of the 6,000 criminal cases filed last year in Westmoreland County were drug-related.
“When you're in court, about everything revolves around addiction or drunk driving,” said Common Pleas Court President Judge Richard E. McCormick Jr.
Financial burden
For county officials, the financial costs have become an even larger burden as deficit spending over the past dozen years has all but drained the county's surplus account and prompted commissioners to pinch pennies when authorizing spending for various programs.
“It's a black cloud on our county, and a lot of things we want to do we can't until we get this drug problem under control,” said Commissioner Gina Cerilli.
Commissioner Ted Kopas said he is disheartened at the amount of county resources used to fight the drug addiction problem.
“While the numbers are staggering, they are certainly not shocking. It's an acknowledgement of the enormous toll this epidemic is putting on county government. We are spending a large amount of money to chase around a problem rather than solving it,” Kopas said.
Staff writer Jacob Tierney contributed to this report. Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
