Sheriff, officials in standoff

And neither side will budge on the issue of increased spending for the Sheriff's Office.

By DAVID DECAMP, Times Staff writer
Published August 12, 2007

In a private meeting July 20, top county officials haggled for four hours with Sheriff Bob White over his request to spend $11.2-million more next year. His request came at a time when county officials already faced a $15.8-million shortfall.

The meeting was fruitless:White offered no cuts, and county officials didn't want to spend more.

Compromise amounted to one concession. At least one chart on the sheriff's Web site depicting fleeting spending on law enforcement would be removed or changed, because the county officials found it misleading, said County Commissioner Michael Cox, who attended the meeting along with County Administrator John Gallagher and budget director Mike Nurrenbrock.

Cox said he went home to his wife that Friday evening and told her, "My head hurts."

The session stands as a measure of how staunchly White is demanding an increase, and how skeptically county officials view it.

White and county officials still have not agreed to any significant cuts as his big hearing with the County Commission approaches at 9 a.m. Tuesday in New Port Richey.

Their postures are so tense that even last month's smidgen of common ground vanished.

The charts remained on the sheriff's Web site after all.

"Next question," Nurrenbrock said last week after a Times reporter pointed out the charts. "I'm not going to use up all my ammunition."

* * *

This is the second year in a row that White - who first won office in 2000 on promises of being frugal with taxes - has asked for a big increase. Last year, he asked the commissioners to consider his agency a developing nation. He ended up with 59 of the 98 new positions he wanted.

That was before the Legislature made counties cut property taxes this summer. Pasco will reduce its tax rate to reflect a 3 percent cut.

Saying his agency is stretched thin by rapid growth, White requested a 13 percent spending increase next year, to $94.7-million. That includes 109 new jobs - 25 would be patrol officers - and 33 vehicles.

But other county departments that operate on property taxes, such as parks and libraries, have minimal or no growth in spending on their programs.

"Does growth equal crime?" Gallagher asked the Times last week. "I had the same growth, the same complications, and I took last year's numbers."

White's budget request rejects that idea. Pasco's per capita spending on law enforcement services - money that excludes jailing and court functions - remains below that of larger areas. The jail population keeps going up. The crime rate went up 11 percent last year.

But the chart that stuck in county officials' craws showed the sheriff's share of overall county spending decreasing over the past seven years. What it doesn't show is the sheriff's budget has remained consistently near 55 percent of the general operating fund. The rest of the budget includes things like utilities fees and impact fees that cannot be spent on policing.

"He wants the residents to be able to see the information, which he thinks will be valuable to them," said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, who put the charts on the Web site, pascosheriff.org.

"I don't think they're misleading. I think it's pretty self-explanatory."

Sheriff goes quiet

White will not comment on his spending plans until he speaks at the commission meeting Tuesday, Doll said. White has been considering potential reductions, Doll said. The spokesman declined to discuss them.

"He'll talk about it Tuesday," Doll said.

County officials also have been waiting for information. Since May 9, at least six written requests for budget-related information were sent - sometimes hand-delivered - to White's office. Only two have been fulfilled, Nurrenbrock said.

Doll said the agency has responded to the requests for which records existed. But unlike last year, White declined to produce a prioritized list of the new jobs he's requesting.

Former County Commissioner Ed Collins, a top political supporter of White, said the sheriff has not spoken to him about the budget. But if White did, Collins said he would have told the sheriff a couple of things.

With no apparent outcry by residents against White's request, Collins said, the sheriff should not be so quiet about his intentions. Instead, White should be meeting with editorial writers in the news media and explaining his financial needs more publicly, Collins said.

The other piece of advice: "I would tell him he should have had a reduced number."

"He's rolling the dice," Collins said. "He's saying, 'This is what I need, and it's up to the board to decide.' "

If the commission shoots down White's request, Florida law allows the sheriff to ask the Cabinet and Gov. Charlie Crist for more money. But Crist has been a strong advocate of the property tax cuts that are leading to spending cutbacks around the state.

Supervisor of Elections Brian Corley, who was White's personnel chief from 2001 to this January, said White honestly believes he needs the money. The big requests of the past two years follow austere increases from White's early years as sheriff.

But even Corley, an ally of White, said the size of White's budget request caught his eye.

"I confess, when I first heard about his budget request, I was surprised," Corley said.

So were county officials, who started predicting cuts as soon as the size of White's proposed budget was announced June 1.

"There is just no way that is going to happen," said Commission Chairwoman Ann Hildebrand.

Hildebrand also has met with White. She spent nearly an hour with the sheriff on July 11, hearing about his agency's needs. She said she did not hear him say anything about potential cuts.

Questions unanswered

As the other county officials prepared for their July 20 budget meeting, Gallagher and Nurrenbrock had a quarter-century history of budget battles together. Pasco sheriffs have come and gone, but they invariably squabbled with county officials over spending.

For Gallagher and his top administrators, there's also an added dimension to the sheriff's budget this year. The deeper they slash White's proposed increase, the fewer cuts they have to make in the departments that fall under Gallagher.

With White's predecessor, Lee Cannon, Gallagher recalled knowing he pushed too hard when a rattled Cannon would take his glasses off to argue. It was a give-and-take. In previous years, Gallagher said, he and Nurrenbrock met with White and agreed to spending cuts outside of personnel costs.

Not on July 20.

"Usually, you get something out of it. ... There was basically very little movement this time," Gallagher said Thursday. "Actually, there was not any movement."

For example, Cox said he asked about using the money the sheriff saved by disbanding the five-member crime prevention unit, if maybe that could go to a few of the new positions.

"White point-blank said, 'No, we're going to use that for other things,' " Cox said.

"I don't know what that means. He was very vague, very vague."

The four men also talked at White's office about consolidating tasks that are duplicated, such as dispatching, purchasing, managing technology and human resources. No agreements.

It was Nurrenbrock's and Gallagher's last and only face-to-face budget discussion with the sheriff.

At midday Friday, Nurrenbrock said he planned to ask for one more budget meeting with the sheriff on Monday.

But, he admitted, he might not get a response.

David DeCamp can be reached at ddecamp@sptimes.com and (727) 869-6232.

It has been a contentious budget season between Sheriff Bob White and county officials - and he still has to make his big pitch to the County Commission on Tuesday. Here are some of the areas under dispute:

Issue: Spending on law enforcement

Sheriff's side: White's budget unveiling on June 1 included a chart showing that fast-growing Pasco had less per capita spending on law enforcement than other large agencies in Florida. Another chart shows the law enforcement share of county budget declining from 11.25 percent in 1999 to 7.61 percent this year.

County's side: The Sheriff's Office spending has remained consistently around 55 percent of the county's general operating fund. The sheriff's chart, however, includes all county spending, which would reach $1.2-billion next year when factoring in impact fees, utility fees and other revenue that cannot be used for policing. The sheriff's charts don't include Penny for Pasco sales tax revenue, which next year will mean $2.1-million for new patrol cars, but the Sheriff's Office says including that figure would not significantly raise per capita spending levels.

Issue: Sheriff's request for 109 new jobs

Sheriff's side: The new jobs are necessary to handle an increasing jail population, put more officers on the street (25 are patrol-related) and provide more support staff to free up deputies from paperwork. They also would help Pasco keep up with growth.

County's side: Officials say they don't know enough about the need. Budget officials asked White for a list prioritizing the new jobs and an organizational chart with specific staffing levels. Neither item had arrived by Friday.

Issue: Crime prevention unit

Sheriff's side: Facing threats to cut spending, White disbanded the crime prevention unit July 30. Salaries there totalled $296,000. Those five positions were moved to the communications department, for a savings of $55,000, but only one employee actually went there (the others quit, retired or transferred). The new communications jobs are not listed in White's request for 109 new employees.

County's side: Commissioner Michael Cox asked whether the money could be used to pay for the requested new staff, but he said White demurred.

Issue: Consolidating operations

Sheriff's side: White and county officials discussed whether to combine purchasing, human resources, computer technology or dispatch departments to save money. White was willing to consider taking over dispatching.

County's side: County Administrator John Gallagher said Cox asked for a report on the potential savings by combining dispatch operations. But Gallagher said the eventual reduction would probably be "only a body or two."

[Last modified August 11, 2007, 21:08:20]