Lee Sheriff proposes decrease in budget
Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott forwarded the Sheriff’s Office proposed 2009- 2010 fiscal year budget to the Board of County Commissioners today.
The request is 2.24 percent less than last year’s adopted budget, unprecedented in Sheriff’s Office budget history, officials there said.
In a letter to Lee County Commissioners, Sheriff Scott said, “With this time of economic uncertainty all local governments are facing, we have worked diligently with the County Commissioners and County Administrators to target our proposed request for Law Enforcement under the goal that was set by the Board.”
The proposal does not have cost of living or merit pay increases for the 1,585 employees. More than 77 percent of the overall budget proposal is related to personnel costs. The $157 million budget is divided into three categories, Law Enforcement, Corrections and Courts:
Law Enforcement: $95,364,776
Corrections: $53,590,259
Courts: $ 8,121,418
While the first two categories show decreases, the third, Courts, is an increase over last year. The increase is attributed to expansion in the mandated service to the courts. This includes the addition of judges presiding in Lee County, the opening of the new 10-story court facility and related reallocation of Corrections personnel, officials said.
Source: Lee County Sheriff’s Office