Steamboat Pilot & Today

GRAMNET made more than 50 drug-related arrests and removed thousands of grams of illegal drugs in 2003 and 2004.

GRAMNET, which stands for the Grand, Routt and Moffat Narcotics Enforcement Team, also provided education and treatment to address the problem of illegal drugs.

Details about what GRAMNET does and where its funding comes from were presented to the Routt County Board of Commissioners on Monday.

The presentation helped justify the county's contribution to the program, County Commissioner Doug Monger said.

After the presentation, Monger said he saw how the contributions from the county and other local law enforcement agencies access $170,000 in federal funds. The contributions also mean the GRAMNET region, which includes Grand, Routt, Moffat and Jackson counties, gets two full-time officers through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Recently, local law enforcement agencies approved funding for GRAMNET for a three-month period. The "bridge" grant was necessary because the federal granting time period changed.

October will mark the start of the 2005-06 funding period. For that period, GRAMNET is asking for a $39,000 contribution from Routt County, according to the presentation.

Of Routt County's contribution, $29,000 pays half the salary of the county task force officer. About $900 is for the organization's finance manager's salary, and about $9,000 is for supplies, travel and confidential expenses, such as the purchase of evidence.

Other major contributors include the Craig Police Department, with $59,000, the Steamboat Springs Police Department, with $49,000, and the Moffat County Sheriff's Office, with $42,000.

District Attorney's offices from Grand, Moffat and Routt counties, as well as the Hayden Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, also contributed.

The local match would total $207,000, and could result in a $170,000 federal match.

That makes for a total budget of $377,000. Compared to the 2003-04 budget, which was about $452,000, there has been a substantial cut.

Kim Gardner, GRAMNET financial manager, said the task force has taken all steps possible to cut its budget.

Because of recent changes in state laws about funds from assets and forfeitures, GRAMNET also needed more-than-expected cash matches from local law enforcement agencies for 2005-06.

The necessary match was divided among contributing agencies, Gardner said. GRAMNET is asking Routt County for an additional $5,000, which is included in the $39,000 estimate.

In the presentation, Dan Kelliher, Task Force officer, stressed that GRAMNET's work involves much more than enforcing drug laws. The organization is focused on education and treatment, as well as enforcement.

"Without all of these approaches to drug enforcement problems, we're really back to square one," Kelliher said.