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

That’s one reason why Police Chief Timothy Jackson’s request for drug money is an important request to consider in the coming years as council members and Mayor Kim Ecklund are trying to resize the city’s budget.

For years, the Jamestown Police Department used money seized during drug investigations to buy drugs. The only problem is that some years large amounts of money are seized in drug investigations, while other years the amount is less. Having buy money allows the department to pursue more drug investigations and, ideally, obtain more confiscated money from drug dealers as investigations are closed. It certainly made life easier for regional drug investigators this year by having a line item in the city budget for money to purchase drugs.

But in the face of a 7.79% tax increase this year, money for medicines has been cut from the budget, as has any unnecessary spending. Money intended for drug purchases is unlikely to be put back into the 2025 budget as Jackson also expressed concerns that the ministry’s fuel budget is set at $36,000 less than the ministry’s request . Gasoline for police vehicles is a more pressing need than the $14,400 spent on drugs.

As Ecklund and the council begin to look at the 2026 budget, we hope they will be able to 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 illegal gun seizures on our streets tend to involve the sale of illegal drugs. Viewed in this light, it can be argued that money purchased to buy drugs is actually an investment in reducing some of the most dangerous elements of crime in our neighborhoods.

It is also important to understand that the city needs to return to the days of pragmatic budgeting. Funding for the American Rescue Plan Act is gone. Employee contracts are waiting to be negotiated and these costs are not decreasing. So if we decide that money for drugs is important, then something else will have to be removed to include money for drugs.

Budgeting has been easy in recent years thanks to the ability to use ARPA funding to plug holes. We hope the city’s residents haven’t gotten too used to the city spending money like a 5 year old on toys, because those days are over, even for something this important – and relatively small – only money to buy drugs.