Lake says it doesn’t have cash to fund sheriff ’s ask
Grinnell requested $9.8M budget boost
Lake County commissioners say money is too tight to fund Sheriff Peyton Grinnell’s request for a $9.8 million budget boost to hire 28 new employees and boost salaries to make his department more competitive with other agencies that pay more.
Commissioners set a statusquo tentative tax rate that they said would provide an additional $3 million for the Sheriff’s Office for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, less than a third of what Grinnell is seeking.
“I’m all for helping the sheriff because we want him to stay competitive, and some of that he needs to do internally,” commission Chairman Tim Sullivan said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I don’t doubt that there’s a huge need, but I can’t see $10 million in this budget year, although I think we can phase it in …”
Grinnell said he will meet with county officials this week “to discuss a strategy to get the Sheriff ’s Office where it needs to be over 18 months to two years.” He said he’s hopeful things can be worked out.
Likewise, Sullivan said he’s hopeful Lake continues “to get
Lake County deputies start at $37,000 a year, while comparable salaries are $41,000 in Seminole; $44,750 in Polk; and $46,000 plus a $2,500 bonus in Orange.
this great growth rate we’ve had,” which could provide more property tax dollars in the following year.
The county expects to receive an additional $9.7 million in property tax revenue for the coming fiscal year, fueled in large part by a 10 percent increase in higher property values. A chunk of that cash, almost $3.7 million, is earmarked to be funneled back into reserves depleted by costs associated with Hurricane Irma in September.
But future windfalls may be erased if voters in November approve Amendment One, a constitutional amendment to add another $25,000 homestead exemption for homes valued at more than $100,000.
If it passes, the county stands to lose $5 million to $7 million in property-tax revenue, Sullivan said.
The fate of another ballot question — emanating from legislation passed in Tallahassee in reaction to the Feb. 14 mass school shooting in Parkland — also could play into the county’s budget arithmetic.
Commissioners, at the request of the School Board, set a referendum for the Aug. 28 primary on a special school safety tax of 75 cents for each $1,000 of taxable property value. The tax would raise an estimated $16 million to pay for, among other things, more school resource deputies, social workers and counselors and to help fund alternative education and in-school suspension programs.
“I keep wondering what will happen if that doesn’t pass,” Commissioner Leslie Campione said.
She tossed out the idea of setting the tentative tax rate higher to keep the option of generating additional tax revenue in case the special tax is defeated. A final vote on the tax rate doesn’t come until September, after the special-tax vote, so if it were to pass, commissioners could reduce the county tax rate.
But none of her fellow commissioners had an appetite for setting a higher tentative tax rate.
Commissioner Josh Blake said he preferred going to the “rollback” rate to generate the same amount of tax dollars as the previous year.
Commissioner Wendy Breeden got nowhere with her call to reduce the tax rate “a little bit,” to about $5.04 for each $1,000 of taxable value.
“You know I ran on trying to lower taxes and ... haven’t done a very good job ….” she said.
In the end, commissioners stuck with the current rate, about $5.12 for each $1,000 of taxable value.
“The status quo is probably the best that we can do until we finish this [budget] process,” Sullivan said.
Last month, Grinnell justified his proposed increase in part by pointing to a 20-percent boost in calls for service the past five years and poor pay compared to other law-enforcement agencies.
Lake County deputies start at $37,000 a year, while comparable salaries are $41,000 in Seminole; $44,750 in Polk; and $46,000 plus a $2,500 bonus in Orange.