Commissioners approve amendment to Sheriff’s Office and jail budgets after debate on reassigning pay from unfilled positions

The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on April 14 approved Resolution 25-4-5, an amendment to revenues and expenditures for the Sheriff’s Office and county jail for fiscal year 2025.

The amendment was the subject of debate after it was removed from the consent agenda for separate consideration. Commissioner Frey said the item was separated so the commission could address a recurring budget practice: reallocating money saved from unfilled deputy positions later in the fiscal year. "When we approve the budget for the current fiscal year, there was some discussion during that process that we would like to see an end to the practice of moving money from unfilled positions of deputies to other things later in the year," Frey said.

Why it matters: Commissioners said they wanted transparency and to halt what one described as a routine shift of funds from vacant deputy positions to other expenditures later in the year. The move to take the item off the consent agenda allowed the body to debate the matter publicly.

Action and vote: Following discussion, the resolution passed on a roll call recorded by the clerk as "20 yeses, 1 no, 0 abstention." The transcript does not attribute the single "no" vote to a named commissioner.

Ending: The commission approved the amendment but did not adopt changes on the record to the county’s long-term policy on reassigning funds from vacant positions; commissioners said the separation of the item allowed the commission to address the practice explicitly during the budget year.