It is good news to find out that Lincoln County’s return to thebeat system of government will not cost as much as previouslyreported.

It is good news to find out that Lincoln County’s return to thebeat system of government will not cost as much as previouslyreported. An accounting error on the county’s budget overstated theequipment purchase costs by $380,000.

That is the good news.

The bad news is that the county is still paying almost $300,000per year in note payments to cover the cost of purchasing $632,489in new equipment, and supervisors are already saying they may needmore equipment. How much more?

As we have said in the past, we are not criticizing thesupervisors. We’re just pointing out that the beat system may notbe the solution its supporters thought, because it has alreadyincreased the county’s cost of doing business.