Pasco Sheriff seeks funding for insurance, contracts and aircraft; Volusia offers two Bell 407s at $4.2M

Undersheriff briefed the board on the sheriff’s operating budget and future capital needs on April 15, urging support for health/self‑insurance funding, contract escalators and aviation replacements while outlining a drone-dot pilot program for faster first-response surveillance.

Key budget and capability points - Current budget and composition: The sheriff’s office reported a total FY24–25 budget of about $170.156 million, of which roughly 80% is salaries (including $11.5 million for insurance), 19% operating (about $32 million for IT, fleet, training, etc.) and about 1% capital (roughly $2 million). The agency reported vacancies of about 16 sworn deputies and about 40 civilian positions. - New‑revenue uses: Based on county projections and the long-standing 40% new-revenue allocation formula, the sheriff estimated $8–9 million in available new revenue. He said priorities would include fully funding self‑insurance ($2…