Pinellas County sheriff warns Amendment 3 could force 'about 400' deputy cuts without a plan

Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Walter (self-identified) said the county's general-fund reliance on property tax means a large state-level exemption would quickly translate into staffing and service cuts. "If you're about 50% of the general fund, then you would be responsible for 50% of the cuts...How am I gonna cut $60,000,000? If you do the math on it, it comes out to probably about 400 deputy positions," he said, warning of reduced patrols, fewer community-policing resources and gaps in specialized units.

Walter detailed how much of the sheriff's operating budget is personnel-driven and tied to the county general fund; he said the office's overall budget is near $600 million and that roughly 85% is in personnel costs. He also described nontraditional services the office provides that would be vulnerable, including the Pinellas Safe Harbor homeless-services program and co-responder mental-health teams. "We spend about $2,800,000 a year to run Safe Harbor," he said, noting that cutting such programs would increase arrests and jail costs.