SENDING MONIES TO THE SCHOOLS MEANS TAXPAYERS NOW PAYING FOR SHERIFF'S
DEPARTMENT CHOPPER

In March of 2008, when New Hanover County was considering the purchase
of a helicopter for the sheriff's office, authorities said local
taxpayers wouldn't foot the bill.

At the time, former sheriff Sid Causey said the $683,050 helicopter
would be paid for by federal grants and seized drug money.

But now that Sheriff Ed McMahon is forwarding money the office
received from forfeitures that occurred in local courts during the
past few years, that promise appears to no longer hold true.

The $323,529.15 McMahon has decided should go toward education
includes $114,985 spent on the helicopter. It also includes an
additional $42,186 the office spent in the following fiscal year to
upgrade the helicopter's flight management system.

On Tuesday, McMahon acknowledged his decision to give forfeiture money
to the schools means, in essence, taxpayers have to foot the bill for
some of the helicopter.

But he also said there's nothing he can do about that now. His review
of recent forfeitures convinced him the money should go to the
schools. In the past, he said, confusion occurred because the law
doesn't specify that forfeited money goes toward education, though the
state constitution does.

Also, that a similar federal forfeiture process allows law enforcement
agencies to keep some money from drug cases for law enforcement
purposes also complicates the issue, he has said.

The $114,985 accounted for almost one third of the $345,067 local
officials paid for the helicopter. That money was forfeited to the
sheriff's office in February 2008, in a case that McMahon has said
wasn't handled correctly.

The money, along with a car, was seized during an investigation into
an alleged video-poker proprietor. The money was supposed to be
forfeited as part of a criminal prosecution, McMahon has said, but the
deputy was promoted and forgot to file charges.

On Tuesday, New Hanover County Commissioner Bill Caster said the cost
of the helicopter was a concern in 2008. That the helicopter would be
paid for with drug money was a big argument in favor of purchasing
one, he said.

For those reasons, Caster said the issue concerns him, but he also
said he thinks helicopters are a valuable tool for law
enforcement.

Commissioner Bobby Greer said officials made the best decision they
could with the information they had.

"I don't think anything was maliciously done with any of this," Greer
said. "Crazy things happen. We have to do the best we can and work
through them."