All that and the kitchen sink

We’re going to talk about budgets today, and you know how much fun that is.

The sheriff’s proposed 2024-25 budget, though, has caught my eye.

You may have seen it. Here’s the link. Right now, the sheriff’s budget is $39.8 million. That’s a tidy sum, and commissioners asked him to keep the increase at 3%, same as everyone else.

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The sheriff declined that request. Instead, he’s more in the realm of 79% — $71.3 million.

Before you say, “What can he be thinking?” It would seem that train has left the station. We have seen this sheriff’s behavior and rhetoric in recent months ratchet beyond the point of logic.
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It’s an absurd amount. Offensive on the face of it. Make sure to read Sheriff Mike Prendergast’s budget message to commissioners or watch his Facebook video. Not one single detail how he’ll spend that money. Not one.

We’re supposedly going to hire 170 new employees with that additional money, including 112 deputies. 

I say supposedly because the sheriff’s budget has a very big rub that cannot ever be ignored. We can never, ever, ever forget that the sheriff has total control over his own budget. Once the number is final, it’s his to tinker with all he wants.

If we’re short deputies, that’s not on the County Commission. That’s on the sheriff. This song and dance he does about commissioners not supporting law enforcement is utter nonsense.

There’s been a lot of pushback lately of a community variety against the sheriff. Michelle Lahera’s heartbreaking and angry column about her husband Andy, and Prendergast’s continued bumbling reaction to it, have turned a lot of heads.

And now this out-of-whack budget request. Let’s break it down some:

— That number. I mean…c’mon. There is no way on the planet the County Commission is going to approve such a thing. If it’s meant to open negotiations that’s a rather insulting start.

— This sheriff likes to rattle off disconnected data, and this budget includes plenty of that. The population is much higher than it once was. And more people are coming! We need more employees, especially deputies. That’s basically his entire budget rationale. 

Prendergast also goes by the fallacy that growth pays for itself. I’ll save this for another time, but a typical residential home costs more in government services than it pays in taxes. The real money is from taxpayers who don’t need the services — such as a power plant north of Crystal River.

Unfortunately, we don’t have too many of those. Mostly new houses and busy in-and-out businesses. All that traffic requires a significant use of the sheriff’s manpower. 

Now, see what just happened there? I made a budget argument on the sheriff’s behalf. Why isn’t he doing that?

— The sheriff’s idea of “transparency” and mine are totally different.

Proposed budgets should have the basics: Easy comparisons with current year; an explanation of each division; a list of capital outlay projects; highlights from the current year’s spending. In a perfect world, one that Commissioner Rebecca Bays is advocating, budgets would have five-year projections as well.

This one has none of those things. I read it twice and gleaned very little. The budget does include a list of the new job positions. (I had to add them up, so if the number is wrong, blame my math.)

It backed up the request with a staffing assessment based solely on growth. We’re growing fast. Give us more money.

I can’t make that leap. Yes we’re growing, and that clearly means more services are needed. But it’s ridiculous to suggest the only solution is to blindly throw money at it without looking at how the money is now spent. We deserve more than that.

— No data about his agency. No info on arrests, traffic tickets issued, drug busts, or property seized. No crime data. Nothing to support the sheriff’s claim that Citrus County is the safest community in Florida (I spent about 10 minutes online looking at FDLE crime stats. I could find no ranking, and the data seemed mixed). No clue what we’re getting for our tax dime.

Commissioners are going to talk about this and other constitutional budgets on Tuesday. At the same meeting, they’ll set up the tax mechanism for the sheriff that he claims will “defund the police.”

Good luck figuring this one out, commissioners. You’ll need it.

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