If Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony wants the state to force county government to provide more funding for law enforcement, he should subject his agency to the same spending scrutiny the county has been undergoing since the summer, Mayor Beam Furr said Friday.

Responding to an op-ed written by Tony this week and published in the Sun Sentinel, Furr said the county budget passed last month devoted more than 50% of its resources to law enforcement, hardly a sign that the agency was being ignored or shortchanged.

During the negotiation process this year, Tony asked the county for a funding increase of $79 million, or 11%. The County Commission came through with $24 million, or 3%, Furr said.

“We had asked every department in the county to have a 5% cut,” Furr said. “He knew that and he still came in high.”

This year, for the first time, the county was asked to fund the newly created Broward County Tax Collector’s Office, introducing an annual expense of about $80 million. Agencies were asked to either cut back or scale back their budget requests to make up for it.

Tony said in his op-ed that he was being transparent in seeking additional funds for raises and expenses.

“For seven consecutive years, as sheriff, I have submitted responsible and transparent budgets that reflected the real costs of keeping this county safe,” he said. “And for seven straight years, the Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO) has been denied full funding by the Broward County Commission.”

At the end of his op-ed, Tony said he would ask the state’s Administration Commission to review the budget allocation to force the county’s hand.

Bring it on, Furr said.

“We can’t review his budget. We can’t audit his budget,” the mayor said.

But just as the state’s Department of Government Efficiency came to Broward over the summer to review spending decision by the county, a similar effort should review spending by the sheriff’s office, he said.

“I assume the Department of Government Efficiency would take a look at his entire budget. And we welcome that,” Furr said.

Furr promised to follow the law if required by the state to reconsider funding.

Rafael Olmeda can be reaches at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457. Follow him on Threads.net/@rafael.olmeda.