If City Council members were to survey the biggest concerns of city residents, we have a feeling that decreasing the flow of illegal drugs into the city would be high on the list.

It’s one reason Police Chief Timothy Jackson’s request for money to buy drugs is a strong ask that should be considered in future years as council members and Mayor Kim Ecklund try to tighten the city’s budget. .

For years, the Jamestown Police Department used money seized in drug investigations to purchase drugs. The only problem with this is that some years a large amount of money is seized as part of drug investigations, while other years the amount is smaller. Having money available to purchase allows the department to conduct more drug investigations and, ideally, obtain more cash seized from drug dealers as investigations close. It certainly made life easier this year for regional drug investigators to have a line in the city budget for money to purchase drugs.

But faced with a 7.79% tax increase this year, money to buy medicines was removed from the budget and any unnecessary spending was eliminated. Money for drug purchases is not likely to be added back to the 2025 budget, as Jackson also expressed concern that the department’s fuel budget will be set $36,000 less than the department’s request. Gasoline for police vehicles is a more pressing need than $14,400 to buy drugs.

As Ecklund and the council begin to look at the 2026 budget, we hope they can find a way to include money for medication purchases. This has been a busy year for drug investigations, and we know that much of the gun violence and seizure of illegal weapons on our streets tends to involve the sale of illegal drugs. Viewed through that lens, it can be argued that money to buy drugs is really an investment in reducing some of the most dangerous criminal elements in our neighborhoods.

It is also important to realize that the city must return to the days of pragmatic budgeting. American Rescue Plan Act funding has run out. Employee contracts are waiting to be negotiated and those costs are not going to go down. So, if we decide that money for the purchase of medicine is important, then something else will have to be cut to include money for the purchase of medicine.

Budgeting has been easy over the past few years thanks to the ability to use ARPA funds to plug holes. We hope city residents haven’t gotten too used to the city spending money like a 5-year-old on toys, because those days are long gone even for something as important (and relatively small) as money to buy drugs.