BURNING ISSUE: INCINERATOR BUY GOOD MOVE BY COUNTY

El Paso County's decision to buy an incinerator to destroy seized
illegal drugs may seem like a relatively small matter.

But it's going to save taxpayers some money, and these days that's
the name of the game.

The purchase of the incinerator, priced at $136,000, will be made
with money from the Sheriff's Office asset forfeiture fund. So, as
Sheriff's Cmdr. Gomecindo Lopez noted, "It's actually the dopers'
money. We're going to save the taxpayers a lot of money."

And because the county will have its own incinerator, it won't have
to contract with an outside company to destroy the drugs. Contracting
with an Arizona company was costing the county $1,625 per ton.

By using the incinerator, the county will save about $32,600
annually. While that may not sound like much, it will start to add up
after a few years.

Of course, any money saved by the county is taxpayer money. Any
savings in that area is more than welcome. When added to other
cost-saving measures, it helps a lot.

A third advantage: As County Commissioner Anna Perez said, "We'll be
able to use detectives to do criminal work instead of babysitting all
these tons and tons of drugs."

So this incinerator purchase is also an increase in efficiency for
the county and Sheriff's Office. It will allow department personnel
to be "out on the street" and helping in a more active way with
keeping El Paso safe.