Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony was not in the room.
But “the elephant” was.
The sheriff once again wants massively more money that he did last year, but two stark differences this year make Tony’s request far more precarious.
First, Tony persists in battling the commissioners who decide how much money he gets every year by persisting with a challenge of their rejection of a $73 million spending increase last year.
The sheriff has every right to do that, but it is a poor political calulation. He should drop his appeal immediately, as doing so would be seen as a conciliatory gesture.
Second, more importantly, Florida faces enormous uncertainty over property taxes with an upcoming statewide referendum on a greatly expanded homestead exemption. Nearly half of the county’s property tax collections go to the sheriff’s operations.
If Amendment 3 passes, Broward County will lose tens of millions of dollars next year. It’s risking fiscal calamity for any county, city or special taxing district to commit to a permanent or recurring expense when the money might not be there a year from now.
broward.org
A summary of Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony’s budget requests for next year. A key number here is $937.4 million, the amount Tony would receive from county property taxes.
At a workshop on June 11 with county commissioners, the sheriff’s office presented BSO’s budget request for the fiscal year starting in October to a highly skeptical commission.
The amount paid from property taxes would be $937 million next year, an increase of $104 million or 12.4% higher than the budget adopted for this year. When all other expenses are added, such as payments by 12 cities that contract with BSO, his proposed budget tops out at $1.55 billion.
BSO brass said much of the increase is needed to give deputies a pay raise to make their salaries more competitive with nearby law enforcement agencies — a chronic problem that has led to high turnover.
In Tony’s absence, BSO Undersheriff Steve Robson referred to the sheriff’s budget appeal as “the elephant in the room” that somehow must disappear. Robson said much of the budget increase includes a “roll over” of the money that the county rejected last year.
“Dismiss the appeal,” Mayor Mark Bogen suggested.
Commissioner Beam Furr said: “I don’t think this is the year to add more law enforcement (costs) … Adding recurring (expenses) on anything would be irresponsible.”
Commissioner Nan Rich was sympathetic to the need to give raises to underpaid deputies, but asked: “Where are we going to get the money from?”
Last November, Tony filed his budget appeal over the commission’s rejection of last year’s budget request with Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Cabinet. Since then, nothing has happened.
DeSantis and the three other Cabinet officials have met publicly only twice since then and have not heard the appeal. Their next scheduled meeting is Sept. 15 — about two weeks before the end of the fiscal year.
Tony is getting a very cold shoulder from the governor who appointed him sheriff in 2019, a clear sign that he wants no part of an internal Broward political fight.
Tony should read two rooms. He should drop his appeal and seek a fresh start with the county.
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.