Minutes 07/26/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Julv 26. 2005 Discussion: . Community Corrections provides a comprehensive array of intermediate sanctions to the local courts as alternatives to incarceration in the City Jail. Services include probation supervision, community service work, restitution, substance abuse assessment, testing and treatment, anger education, domestic violence intervention, and other services as requested by the courts. . Between July 1,2004 and June 30,2005 the program served 545 Portsmouth citizens. It facilitated the collection of $24,114.44 in restitution to victims, and $27,893.05 in court costs. Offenders completed 3,921 hours of community service work. Over 120 offenders received conflict resolution and anger education services, and 355 received substance abuse services. . Pretrial Services provides supervised release to defendants. Between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 the program conducted over 974 investigations, screened 1,796 defendants, conducted 801 criminal record checks, received 344 placements on supervision and monitored 561 defendants released by the Magistrate. . The New Full time Equivalent Position was included in the main grant for the second year of funding. Between October 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005 the program served 46 subsequent offenders providing them with employment training and behavior management skills. . Financial Impact: There is no local financial match required. Staff Recommends: Adoption of an ordinance to appropriate $530,163 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services to Portsmouth Community Corrections & Pretrial Services to provide local offender and defendant services in the City of Portsmouth. Vision Principle: Neighborhood and Community Transformation. Motion by Mr. Heretick, and seconded by Ms. Randall, to adopt the following ordinance, and was adopted by the following vote: "ORDINANCE ACCEPTING A COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERVICES GRANT IN THE AMOUNT OF $530,163 AND APPROPRIATING SAID AMOUNT IN THE GRANTS FUND OPERATING BUDGET FOR PRETRIAL AND PROBATION SERVICE IN THE CITY." Ayes: Heretick, Moody, Randall, Smith, Whitehurst, Holley Nays: None 05 - 336 - Adoption of an ordinance to eliminate city decals, institute licensing fees, and combine licensing fees with personal property taxes on a consolidated billing statement, effective January 1, 2006. Vision Principle: Bold New Directions. Background: . The Cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk, along with York and Gloucester Counties, have eliminated the issuance of city decals. . The City Treasurers of Chesapeake and Suffolk have been discussing the elimination of decals with their respective management teams and City Councils. The City of Chesapeake is expected to vote on this issue soon, and the City of Suffolk is currently on hold. . The sale of a decal indicates that a citizen's personal property taxes are paid. However, its use as a collection tool has been weakened since the above-referenced jurisdictions have eliminated the decal. The Police Department continues to issue violations, but is required to perform time-consuming DMV checks to determine if a vehicle is registered in Portsmouth. Discussion: . The City has become less dependent on decal sales as a collection tool during the January 1st through February 15th "Decal Season". The City Treasurer now relies more on tax liens against wages and bank accounts, DMV stops to block renewals of state license tags, debt set offs as liens against state income tax refunds and lottery winnings, and judgments from District Courts as alternative collection methods. . The Commissioner of Revenue has confirmed the City's current history files could be utilized along with DMV's files to establish a basis for generating personal property assessments in a timely manner.