County Commission OKs Option to Hire Deputies Without Tax Increase

It looks as if the Manatee County Commission will avoid having to vote on an increase to the millage rate after the county administrator and the sheriff worked out a compromise to fund 10 new deputies without a tax increase.

County Administrator Ed Hunzeker was able to pull $800,000 in additional revenues from the current tax year and dedicate that money to the sheriff's office so that Manatee County Sheriff Brad Steube can add 10 new deputies in the coming year, half the number he originally requested. 

The move is likely to delay a tax increase for at least a year. County commissioners will have to consider a tax increase next year to keep paying for the additional deputies unless the county or the sheriff's office is able to find the same amount of savings in next year's budget.

Hunzeker and Stuebe worked out a number of options for commissioners to consider after last week's meeting in which county commissioners set the maximum millage rate, but indicated that it would be difficult to get a majority to approve an increase in the tax rate in September when the final budget is approved.

On Tuesday commissioners voted to include an option in the proposed budget that would give the sheriff $800,000 in county savings to hire as many as 11 new deputies without having to increase the millage rates.

After the meeting, Stuebe said he is not happy with the compromise that cut in half his request for additional deputies.

"No I am not satisfied with 10 deputies," he said. The commissioners "asked that we worked on coming up with an option that would work instead of raising the millage rate."

The county will hold two public hearings on the budget in September.

While county commissioners and the sheriff were able to negotiate an agreement on the sheriff's budget, they reached a stalemate Tuesday on where to store property and evidence.

Evidence storage has become a contentious issue since some evidence was destroyed by water damage and by rodents. The sheriff's office wants to keep property and evidence at its operations center but needs more space. The county wants to store all property and evidence in the former downtown jail, next door to the judicial center.

Both options will cost the county more than $1 million and both are likely to take at least a year to complete. On Tuesday commissioners voted to set aside $800,000 in savings in contributions to the Florida Retirement System to be used for property and evidence storage.

The commissioners and the sheriff still must negotiate an agreement on where the evidence will be stored.