Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon wants the latter for drug abusers.

Thus, he opposes Sheriff Aaron Kennard's $1.7 million request to reopen Oxbow Jail and is calling instead for $2 million to house hundreds of substance abusers in a day center and to bolster drug treatment.

Beginning today, the County Council will ponder what that philosophical change means for the sheriff's balance sheet during a midyear budget workshop.

Could cuts or caps be coming?

"If we're going to open the day reporting center, the question arises whether we need the whole amount of funding for incarceration because this is supposed to take care of that," Councilman Mark Crockett said Monday. "It's a worthy question."

Jail cuts are "not going to happen," countered Sheriff Aaron Kennard, who nonetheless is frustrated over continually crowded conditions at the Adult Detention Center in South Salt Lake.

A woman from West Valley City, he noted, was just sentenced to 50 days in the county jail for a seat-belt violation.

"That's asinine," said the sheriff, who Monday called for his office and the council to "battle the elements rather than each other."

Corroon says the county must send the message that many in jail could go to other facilities for less money and more personal benefit. He wants justice-court judges to employ uniform sentencing.

"If that doesn't work, we may have to look at capping the number of inmates we take from the cities," the mayor warned.

Such a move suits Kennard, who says his next step is to tell such judges they must release one inmate for every one sentenced.

Kennard concedes his request to reopen Oxbow's 184 beds - council members have vowed to block the move - is in trouble. But he insists it makes "no sense whatsoever" to cut the coffers at the "plumb-full" jail.

County Councilman Randy Horiuchi expects hard questions today, "but I would be shocked if we did anything substantial."

Colleague Joe Hatch agrees, saying there is little to slash.

"We're squeezing every dollar, the cities are squeezing every dollar," Hatch said. "We have the hammer to keep that budget lean and mean."

Still, other council members suggest that reducing some of that "mean" in the jail - by putting abusers in treatment rather than behind bars - would require corresponding cuts to keep the books lean.

djensen@sltrib.com

Corroon seeks new division: Administrative Services

Scandals in Salt Lake County have prompted Mayor Peter Corroon to call for corralling some of the problem areas into a new department called Administrative Services.

The idea, he says, is to create more oversight.

But the move comes with nearly a $360,000 annual price tag - and that's too much for at least one County Council member.

"They ought to be finding those savings from within before they ask us to spend the money," said Councilman Mark Crockett, who maintains county divisions also should be able to "opt out" if they desire.

"Otherwise, you end up with a monopolistic and insulated provider with fairly low accountability."

Councilman Joe Hatch, "flabbergasted" at the dissent, disagrees. The struggles under former Mayor Nancy Workman, he said, are proof of the new department's need.

"Without centralized control, bad things happen," Hatch said. "It will pay back in dividends time and time again."

The council is expected to vote on creating the new department, which Corroon says is akin to "spending $1 now to save $2 later."

- Derek P. Jensen

Cottonwood Heights wins fund compromise

Cottonwood Heights Mayor Kelvyn Cullimore wants it in writing, but is inclined to accept Salt Lake County's compromise on his request for a $7 million refund from the county's municipal services fund.

The leader of the newly incorporated city insisted the tax money should be returned, calling it "double taxation" because Cottonwood Heights residents paid into the fund before voting to become a city.

Now, he says, the county's offer to preserve $2.5 million in open space for a possible park along with a $500,000 fire-control refund and $75,000 election cost return is "an adequate compromise."

"Until you see the written proposal, I've learned you don't assume too much," Cullimore said Monday. "But I think it's a decent compromise."

County Council members are expected to put the offer in writing this week, while a formal vote is scheduled June 21.

Councilman Mark Crockett, who represents Cottonwood Heights, says he is pleased with the outcome.

"Everybody came with guns blazing," he said. "We came to an outcome that pretty much everybody could support for good reasons, not just sausage-grinding reasons."

- Derek P. Jensen