The first impression many visitors have of Broward County is when they step off an aircraft and navigate Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Inside the terminal, Broward sheriff’s deputies stand at security checkpoints. Outside, arm-waving deputies keep traffic moving amid harried travelers and honking horns. What is not obvious is that those deputies don’t work for the airport. They work for the sheriff, who’s under contract to provide airport security to the county.

County commissioners are now voicing doubts about the decades-old arrangement. They may replace the sheriff’s office with an independent police agency under county control. The review comes amid years of tense budget showdowns between Sheriff Gregory Tony and commissioners.

It’s about control, not safety

This clash is less about public safety than the county’s insistence on operational control over the money it spends to secure the airport, now at $35 million a year and 125 budgeted full-time positions.

“The big issue is having control of our dollars. We don’t have control,” Commissioner Nan Rich said during a workshop Tuesday. “We give the money and then it’s gone … That’s not right. Nobody else can do that.”

Broward Mayor Mark Bogen noted that BSO’s airport security costs, paid by the county, have risen 50% over five years, to $35 million a year.

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A report by the Jensen Hughes consulting firm outlined weaknesses in the existing system, including an absence of communication between BSO and the county aviation division. Consultants found “opaque cost structures” inside the sheriff’s office that make it difficult to determine the true costs.

Another Broward fiefdom

The bottom line: This is another inefficient Broward County bureaucratic fiefdom, with people isolated in separate silos who do not want to deal with each other. That does not serve the people of Broward well.

The report states: “BSO’s executive team rarely engages with the BCAD (aviation division) executive team. Ahead of budget, BCAD is not consulted with their perspectives on service levels or concerns for the following year. In submitting the budget, BSO does not articulate a vision or goals for delivering services at FLL or reflect any recognition of BCAD planning initiatives.”

This makes no operational sense, in our view. Further hampering communication is the high level of turnover in the top ranks of BSO personnel who work at the airport. “I’m on my sixth captain in 10 years,” Airport Director Mark Gale said Tuesday.

Commissioners have much more faith in Gale, the airport director, than they do in Tony, the independently elected sheriff whose spending decisions have drawn commissioners’ wrath.

Tony is currently appealing the county’s decision to cut the size of his last budget request to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet.

Commissioner Michael Udine called on Tony to drop his appeal so the two sides can discuss airport security.

“That’s got to go away, so we can have collaborative discussions,” Udine said.

‘Kudos’ from the sheriff

Tony was not invited to the two-hour workshop, but the often-combative sheriff posted a supportive message on his Instagram account.

“Kudos to the Broward County commissioners for taking the time and at least getting some facts in front of them,” Tony said.

He drew a sharp contrast between the county’s detailed study and what he called the “emotion” of Deerfield Beach, which voted to split with the sheriff, severing their 35-year alliance.

Pompano Beach is also re-thinking its alliance with BSO, and the county will expand the study to include a review of BSO’s security at Port Everglades and the county fire-rescue service.

The lack of communication is startling. The Jensen Hughes report said the sheriff and county formed a joint task force to address the chronic curbside traffic headaches at the airport, but that the sheriff’s office walked away without explanation.

“Initially, BSO participated,” the report said. “However, after a few weeks, BSO discontinued participation without explanation.”

On the nine-member county board, only one member, first-term Commissioner Alexandra Davis, spoke skeptically of creating an independent police agency, calling it “premature” and citing unknown costs. In our view, Davis does have a point: The county must be fully transparent with taxpayers on the real costs.

This review may go nowhere, and even if it does happen, the transition could take several years. But Broward County is right to explore improving a system that isn’t working.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.