If AZ Prop 100 doesn’t pass, it will mean longer turn around at the state crime lab. Forensic science analysis costs money. If the state crime lab isn’t funded, agencies will have to find other cheaper (ie: private labs) alternatives:
If voters fail to approve Proposition 100, the Arizona Department of Public Safety could lose up to 100 positions, DPS Director Robert Halliday said in a carefully worded statement Monday.
Voters will have a chance on May 18 to approve or reject the ballot measure, which would increase the statewide sales tax by a penny per dollar over a three-year period, with the extra revenue earmarked for education, public safety, and health and human-services programs.
If the tax measure fails, a contingency plan calls for the agency to cut $4 million from its $218 million annual budget.
Because public resources and employees cannot be used to influence elections, Halliday stated that he was not advocating for the passage of the proposition.
But he made his perspective clear: If the proposed sales-tax hike fails, the changes at DPS will be hard for the public to miss.
Halliday said budget-cutting options include moving detectives from criminal investigations to Highway Patrol and cutting crime-lab funding, which would reduce turnaround times on samples sent to the lab.
Read more on AZCentral.com.
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