DRUG TASK FORCE SEEKS COUNTY FUNDS TO OFFSET EXPECTED SHORTFALL

FORT WORTH - For the first time in its 13 years, Tarrant County's anti-drug
task force is asking the county for a half-million dollars over three years
to offset a predicted shortfall linked to President Bush's tax cut.

Officials with the Tarrant County Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination
Unit said Tuesday that they will also ask the state for permission to cut
about eight positions.

County commissioners said Tuesday that they were ready to approve $148,000
in 2002 and, if necessary, $369,000 the following year. Commissioners must
approve their 2001-02 budget this fall.

The money would pay one-quarter of the salaries of county employees who are
assigned to the task force.

"I think that is a very good program, and it is a program that is a
collaborative effort with all the communities out here, so I am very
supportive of it," said Commissioner Glen Whitley, whose precinct includes
various cities in Northeast Tarrant County.

Last year, prosecutors from the task force handled 80 percent of the
county's drug cases, according to District Attorney Tim Curry's office.
Between June 1999 and May 2000, task force officers arrested 444 felony
drug suspects and seized $1.7 million in drugs in Tarrant County.

The task force, which has about 45 officers from state, federal and local
law enforcement agencies, relies on funding from the federal Byrne Formula
Grant program, along with money from drug seizures and forfeitures.

Bush's 2001 budget included a provision that Byrne grants be frozen at the
same level for five years. Congress passed the $1.35 trillion tax cut, a
budget priority of Bush's, in late May and the president is expected to
sign the legislation this week.

The grants typically increase each year to reflect growth in population.

Byrne grants are noncompetitive awards aimed against violent and
drug-related crime. A base amount is given to all states that apply and is
then adjusted for population.

Last year, the Byrne Grant funded about $1.9 million of the unit's $3
million budget, said Cmdr. Art Van Dorn, who heads the unit.

The unit will also recommend in its budget this year that it cut eight of
the 34 positions it funds, including prosecutors and administrative staff,
Van Dorn said.

The salaries of the officers on the task force are paid by the agencies
that assign them to the unit, such as the Drug Enforcement Agency or area
police departments.