You can read the award letter and County Board resolution modifying the Sheriff's budget HERE.
The Sheriff received one grant for $230,000 for infrared radar for the Sheriff helicopter ( we assume). The other grant for $367,790 was for vehicles, a new patrol boat, etc.
As we learned at the last County Board meeting, the County Commissioners do not really control or set the Sheriff's budget, so this is a rubber stamp approval required by law, apparently.
Additionally, there are NO public hearings, no public input or
transparency over the budgets and spending of the Constitutional Officers like the Sheriff, County Clerk, Tax Collector, Assessor.
We applaud the Sheriff's staff for having the initiative to at least get some Federal tax funds returned to the County by applying for grants.
However, from a business standpoint, since the Sheriff doesn't provide the Board with much information, we have the following observations:
- The documentation does not disclose related maintenance, training, staffing or related expenses that will be required to maintain the equipment. Will this now act as a reason to ask for more money when the economy is so poor. That issue was not addressed. Will there be annual maintenance contracts for the future that are NOT included in the current budget, and will they be a surprise addition later like the County radio system maintenance contract of $1.4 (or more) million that was NOT added to the budget.
- If vehicles and planned capital equipment were funded by this grant, shouldn't there be a reduction in the existing budget and the funds returned to the General Fund or used to REDUCE taxes. For instance, if the new boat (which I saw at a local gas station) was in a normal capital spending plan, wouldn't that reduce future budget funds for other uses. There was no discussion of such issues.
These are the types of things an independent performance audit would ask, but the Sheriff has never had one.
Note: At the last County Commission budget meeting, when discussing the effect of the Constitutional officers budgets on the total County funding process, the only action taken by the Board was to have Chairman Welton Cadwell meet with the elected Constitutional officers (primarily the County Clerk and the Sheriff, who have big budgets) and try to get them to reduce their budgets. There were no stated goals or objectives, just a plan to "talk".
Our RecommendationThis process needs to change. There is NO TRANSPARENCY over the budgets of the Constitutional Officers, no public hearings, no public input, no performance audits. They spend more than HALF of the total tax revenues of the County. Additionally, Constitutional officers should have to appear before the Board in public meetings to present and defend their budgets.
vj
