Millions Nearly Cut From Sheriff’s Budget

By IN Reporter Michael Rutschky

A motion to reduce the Sheriff Office’s budget by $2.5 million was rejected on Thursday at the Board of County Commissioner’s second public hearing regarding the county’s new budget. The idea was brought forth by County Commissioner Mike Whitehead and was rejected by the other members of the board 3-2.

“For the men and women of law enforcement it’s important for us to have the equipment and the resources to combat [the] growing criminal element,” said Lt. Jerry Cox, one of many sheriff’s deputies who had attended the hearing, “I just felt that Commissioner Whitehead has a personal agenda for political reasons.”

The motion was part of a larger process by the Board of County Commissioners to lower property taxes and make cuts to the budget for the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Whitehead had made it clear during a Sept. 4 hearing that the sheriff’s budget would be a preferable place to make multi-million dollar cuts.

“I’m not picking on the sheriff here,” said Whitehead during Thursday’s hearing, “[his budget is] the biggest chunk. It is what it is”

During the board’s previous budget hearing Whitehead had remarked that the $900,000 in budget cuts that the sheriff’s office had already made was not enough considering that the budget itself is for $79 million. Despite warnings from other board members that cutting costs could mean reducing the number of law enforcement officers, Whitehead asserted that the cuts could be made from less important areas.

“I still believe that there’s room in this thing and you’re missing a huge opportunity if you don’t take advantage of it today,” Whitehead told the board members.

Some believe that Whitehead’s recent defeat in the local elections last August have rendered him a loose cannon.

“[Commissioner Whitehead] doesn’t have anything to lose right now,” said Eric Haines, an Escambia county deputy with the Police Benevolent Association, “He can come out and say what he wants to without fear of retribution.”

At their previous meeting the board had unanimously voted to roll back property taxes from 8.017 mills to 6.9755 and to set the millage rate for the sheriff’s municipal services taxing unit, or MSTU, at .6850. Thursday’s hearing was the final step in deciding upon the budget for the next financial year. The MTSU is a special funding source that is provided with a separate property tax rate from the rest of the county.

Property tax rates are expressed in mills, which are $1 for every $1000 in property value.

According to Chairman Gene Valentino, this is the single largest tax cut in the history of Escambia County.