DAKOTA COUNTY DETOX CENTER: COUNTY HAS LITTLE CHOICE IN DETOX CHANGES

Dakota County Commissioners faced some facts about the costs of a
county's detoxification center. The county budget is down $16 million
because of state aid cuts. The limited dollars devoted to detox
services - about $1.3 million - had to buy as many facility beds as
possible.

The current Dakota County contract detox center, the nonprofit Dakota
County Receiving Center in Hastings, offered the county a projected
rate of $240 to $300 per bed. The Ramsey County Detoxification Center
offered a fixed rate of $205 per bed for 18 months. Fifteen beds could
be reserved each night at the St. Paul facility for the use of Dakota
County residents.

At their Tuesday board meeting, the commissioners will ratify this
week's decision to use the Ramsey County facility beginning in July.

They don't have much of a choice. It's a matter of the best use of
limited resources. The switch has nothing to do with the services of
the Dakota County Receiving Center, according to county officials. In
fact, the services have been fairly generous - the Dakota County detox
center, for example, is the only center in the area that will drive to
pick up an intoxicated individual and bring him or her to the center.
Everywhere else, police officers pick up and deliver those who need
help.

That change to come has led to complaints from police departments in
Dakota County, which will be responsible for transporting inebriated
people to the St. Paul detox center. For communities fairly close to
the city, it won't matter but for others, such as Apple Valley or
Lakeville, the round trip will cut into an officer's patrol hours.

We certainly understand the reluctance to accept a time-consuming
inconvenience. One solution might be for the Dakota County police
departments to coordinate trips to the St. Paul center.

More broadly, the state might want to look at its liquor taxation rate
and determine if all or a portion of the counties' detox expenses
could be picked up by modest increase in the 2.5 percent rate. The tax
was last raised 21 years ago.