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Sheriff flags higher training and jail costs as supervisors review budget
Summary
The sheriff told Page County supervisors the department likely will need to send one or two new deputies to the academy next year, driving training costs and contributing to a reported year‑over‑year budget increase; supervisors discussed recruiting certified deputies and possible signing bonuses to reduce academy expense.
The Page County sheriff joined the budget work session to review law‑enforcement staffing and training costs and to flag several items likely to increase next year’s operating budget.
Sheriff’s office figures in the packet showed the department’s tentative budget running higher than last year — a working spreadsheet was read aloud showing roughly $276,000 (about a 13%) increase compared with the prior year, and the sheriff attributed roughly $31,100 of that increase to sending new deputies through the training academy. The sheriff said the office currently lacks certified applicants and expects to send at least one, possibly two, new deputies to the academy next year.
Supervisors and the sheriff discussed ways to reduce immediate training costs, including recruiting deputies who already are certified at other agencies. Several participants described the local practice elsewhere of offering a signing bonus — for example, an amount around $10,000 — to recruit deputies who already have academy certification, which would shift the timing but not necessarily the total cost to the county.
The sheriff also noted a pending jail inspection in a few weeks and said the county will need to think about operating costs for the new jail the county plans to open. Supervisors stressed uncertainty about how much the new facility will cost to operate and cautioned that the county should factor those potential recurring costs into future budget planning.
Board members asked whether revenues from traffic fines or other locally issued tickets help offset enforcement costs; the sheriff and other supervisors said most fines and fees are retained by the state and do not flow back to the county, calling it an unfunded mandate on local law enforcement.
No formal vote was taken on sheriff’s office staffing during the session; the board directed staff to include training costs and the academy scenarios in the next budget re‑run and to consider recruiting strategies to reduce academy expenses.
