ECSO RELEASES RESPONSE TO TAXWATCH SPECIAL REPORT
Pensacola, Fla — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has released a response to a 2009 Special Taxwatch Center for Local Government Studies Report that identified potential cost reductions for the ECSO between $12.3 and $27.3 million in comparison with peer counties.
The response discounts the comparisons used in the report and also points to a number of inaccuracies.
Highlights of the material presented in the response include:
The Taxwatch Report, in comparing Escambia and Leon counties, claims that the ECSO does not provide services to City of Pensacola residents, while the Leon County Sheriff’s Office does serve the City of Tallahassee. This is an inaccuracy, as the ECSO does provide services within the city. The response breaks down those services.
To make a more accurate assessment of the ECSO, the response was broadened to include eight counties for the purpose of comparison, rather than just two. It also provides further research into to extenuating circumstances and irregularities that would make comparisons inaccurate.
While the Taxwatch report used only two points of comparison, the ECSO response addressed twenty two different standards of comparison
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