LEBANON — Even with a promise to match new money raised, Warren County commissioners must do more to beef up the county's drug task force, community leaders said.

        “I don't see why the commissioners won't contribute more. It doesn't seem to me like the county commissioners are contributing much to this effort,” said Bob Curran, a trustee in Harlan Township.

        That is where the first methamphetamine lab in the county was raided last summer.

        “It should be a concern for the county commissioners because this affects the entire county,” he said.

        Mr. Curran, who was among 20 politicians and police chiefs who gathered Monday night to discuss funding of the 7-year-old task force, said commissioners should donate twice the amount of money contributed by communities.

        Lebanon City Manager Jim Patrick said commissioners should match every dollar donated by communities — not just new money.

        Task force officials have called for each community to contribute $1 per resident to pay for an expansion, after commissioners rejected a request for $383,000 to hire three agents and a secretary and lease an office for the countywide operation.

        The task force now has no full-time officers and relies on agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation to provide undercover work.

        The squeeze on staffing has caused 20 drug tips a week to go unanswered, task force Director John Burke said.

        The latest fund-raising proposal has potential to generate $226,000 from the communities and matching funds from commissioners.

        The task force now operates on a $98,500 annual budget that comes from a $58,500 federal grant and $40,000 in contributions from six cities and townships, the prosecutor's office and the sheriff.

        Pat South, president of the Warren County Board of Commissioners, said Tuesday she couldn't promise the board would increase its offer of funding for the task force.

        “In terms of matching 2-for-1, we have budget constraints too. We may be financially comfortable, but we are not living in the lap of luxury,” she said of the county's budget.

        Mr. Burke's proposal for per capita contributions has received mixed reaction from community leaders who are mulling over the request as they set their 2001 budgets.

        Contributions would be based on 1999 population and would be adjusted in future years, Mr. Burke said.

        In Mason, with about 22,000 residents, Mayor John McCurley said City Council is concerned. Mason now contributes $5,000 a year to the drug agency, and spends $2.5 million on its police force.

        "We have the largest population in the area and we will spend the most money in the program,” he said. “We believe in the program and believe it should go forward, but just want to make sure we are paying our fair share.”

        Two communities already have already pledged their per capita share: Franklin Township, with more than 13,000 residents, and Union Township, with 2,552.

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