Largest County Budget Contributors - Part 1 of 5

I am often asked why Salt Lake County’s budget is so large compared to other counties. Salt Lake County is, by far, the largest county in the state. With a population of 1.1 million residents, we account for over 40 percent of the population of the state of Utah. As a fiscally conservative state, Utahns care deeply about where their hard-earned money is going. Over the next few weeks these blog posts will explain the five biggest budget expenses in Salt Lake County. Some of the topics may overlap. For example, criminal justice is nearly a quarter of our annual budget ($275 million) but it overlaps a number of agencies within the county (namely public safety and human services). Here is some budget info on the jail and public safety:

Jail and Public Safety

Salt Lake County is home to six of the top 10 largest cities in the state. Because Salt Lake County is the financial, government, and, to a large degree, cultural hub of the state, crime has a natural tendency to be more prevalent. Compare Davis County, for example; Davis County (population 306,000) has 800 jail beds. Salt Lake County has approximately 2,200 jail beds. 

In addition to the main Metro Jail in South Salt Lake, the Oxbow Jail houses inmates for therapeutic justice programs that help those inmates with substance abuse issues. Salt Lake County allocates $76 million to operate the county jail with another $14.4 million allocated to the Sheriff for court services (bailiffs, security, etc.). Compare that with Davis County at $18.2 million and Utah County at $30 million. In addition to operating the jail, the County also appropriates $13.3 million in countywide investigative and support services. Both the Metro Jail and Oxbow are located within District 3.

Total Jail, bond payments, and Public Safety:  $114,161,809