BEAUMONT — During Monday’s budget hearings opener officials decided to cut funding to the 80-year-old Jefferson County Library on Viterbo Road. Officials are eyeing a number of cuts in anticipation of a $3 million decrease in sales tax revenue, in addition to a potential $8 million decrease in property sales tax revenue.

“They decided to let us be open until December,” said Chad Clark, county librarian, who runs a staff of three full-time employees. “The budget technically runs out in a couple months.” Clark said he attempted to decrease mailing costs, cut books and audio visual to decrease costs.

“On a personal level, it hurts,” Clark said. “I’m one to pick myself up and dust myself off.”

Clark said there’s currently an estimated 33,000 patrons the library serves in unincorporated and incorporated Jefferson County.

“What we found is there are only 1,300 that actually use the library,” said Precinct 2 Commissioner Mark Domingue. “A lot of people use it as a free DVD service, so we kind of questioned the cost of being in the DVD business. If you factor the numbers of books checked out, we could have bought them a book for less of a cost.”

In order to address the migration of current patrons, Jeff Brannick, assistant to county Judge Ron Walker, recommended the county provide a stipend to local libraries to cover unincorporated residents.

“They are kind of left high and dry right now. It just leaves a lot of questions,” Clark said.

Domingue said his main focus during the hearings is to take a good strong look at overtime costs and extra help including travel. In the Mosquito Control portion of the budget, Domingue worked with Kevin Sexton, new director of the department, in describing what appeared to an “awful lot of extra help.” In fact, there are a number of part-time employees instead of full time, that would require benefits.

Indigent healthcare continues to take severe cuts, despite an increase in patients and in the number of pharmaceuticals those patients are requiring. Indigent burials are also almost double from last year.

Dr. Cecil Walkes, county health and welfare director, said he’s noticed a sharp rise in patients requiring medications for psychological illnesses. An estimated 147,000 scripts for a variety of medical needs are written to the county’s poor annually.

“Phsychopharmaceuticals are what's eating our lunch. They are not going to MHMR and not seeing someone unless they are suicidal or homicidal. They are taking that direction to keep people out of the hospital,” Walkes said.

He attributes the sharp increase to people losing their jobs and people losing their insurance.

Precinct 1 Commissioner Eddie Arnold, who sits on a local hospital board, said he is seeing more and more indigent people coming to emergency rooms without insurance.

Walkes said this is where a serious problem lies in assigning specialists for conditions that could be easily cured with general care.

“When they are seen in the emergency rooms, the doctors are busy,” Walkes said. “They don't have a whole lot of time to evaluate the patient to an extent and so you have a cardiologist, urologist, etc. come in.”

Budget hearings resume at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, Crime Lab, Jail, Marine Division and Alternative School budgets will be reviewed. At 10:30 a.m., Emergency Management, 11 a.m. Visitor’s Center, 11:15 a.m. Criminal District Court and 252nd District Court. Ford Park budget will also be up for review at 3 p.m.

smartinez@panews.com