Sheriff includes self in pay raises

It’s Wednesday so let’s talk about Sheriff Mike Prendergast.

You may have heard the sheriff wants pay increases for his employees. That is certainly commendable.

Not just deputies, but all employees. All. Even a worker with the title, “Sheriff.”

Prendergast’s proposed $40 million budget includes a $34,000 personal pay raise over this year's budget, a startling move I thought impossible because the salaries of constitutional officers are set by the state.

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The sheriff started the year earning $148,033 a year and thanks to a new state law, saw it bumped to $171,628 in April. That was news to me. His 2022-23 pay, according to the budget, will be $181,926.

Let’s break it down.

You may not know this, so I’ll repeat it: Salaries of constitutional officers — school board, county commission, sheriff, supervisor of elections, superintendent of schools, tax collector, clerk of the court and property appraiser — are set by the state. It’s been that way for decades.

Population, and little else, drives the formula. There have been additional criteria, such as school board salaries cannot exceed beginner teacher pay. And elected officials may, if they choose, reduce their salary.

But jamming through a pay raise on your own? That is unheard of in Citrus County.

And so I thought, and so I wrote. Then I learned that this is the Legislature's doing, that a bill it passed in April designed to provide financial incentives to help recruiting for state law enforcement also included a hefty pay raise for sheriffs.

The state calculates base pay, then assigns a multiplication factor and from that comes the salary. Constitutional officers who are not commissioners or school board members also receive an annual $2,000 certification bonus (I call it $2K for passing Go), and the new state law designed to recruit and retain law enforcement officers added another $5,000 for sheriffs to the base.

I originally thought that added $5,000 to Prendergast's pay, but it actually adds $23,595 --- a 16% increase to $169,628 (plus the $2K pass Go bonus).

A couple things. First off, that base pay is for 2021-22 and the new pay chart for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 hasn’t come out yet. I'm sure it'll go up. I doubt it’ll jump anything close to $10,000 but who knows.

Second, the sheriff’s budget he gave the county, and is posted on the agency website, doesn’t come right out and say this is his own salary. The county administration sort of figured it out, and I just flat asked the sheriff’s office if the $181,926 reflected Prendergast’s salary and was told it does.

Prendergast may think he has the upper hand in public support but this budget has caught the county commission’s attention. The county sent a letter Tuesday to the sheriff with 17 specific questions that will no doubt have Prendergast climbing the walls. (I’ll get more into that letter on Thursday.)

There’s a point to all this.

Far as I’m concerned, we can’t give Sheriff Mike Prendergast enough money to keep this community safe. Same for his officers and all the other first-responders.

Being blunt, this isn't the way to go. The whole budget process is off to a rocky start. It’s the commissioners who are going to take it on the chin for passing the tax increase that’ll be needed to support the sheriff’s ask. They have every right to make sure all their questions are answered. 

If the sheriff truly thinks his budget is transparent, I know at least one commissioner who would beg to differ.

This is big money we’re talking about. Some pretty important decisions are coming. Let’s make sure all cards are on the table, OK? 

Note from Mike: This blog was edited Wednesday to reflect that the state formula for sheriffs changed with a new law in April that bumped Prendergast's current pay from $146,033 to $169,628. The blog is edited throughout to make that clearer.

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