Board approves one-year vehicle and cost-share arrangement to keep school deputy; commissioners question surplus use

Muskegon County commissioners authorized a one-year vehicle and maintenance arrangement tied to partnerships with the Fulton School District, City Creek and Blue Lake Townships that supports a sheriff’s deputy assigned to the Golden School District.

A county presenter asked the board to authorize the chair to sign documents and to use approximately $43,902 from department surplus funds to cover annual vehicle fuel and maintenance. The presenter said the larger project cost is around $150,000 and partner entities would share that cost (described in the discussion as a 25%/25%/50% split among the three partners), while the county would provide the annual surplus-funded maintenance allocation for one year.

Commissioners pressed several budget questions. Commissioner McWiggett and others said $43,000 could be spent in other areas of need; Angela, the county finance director, explained the county’s surplus program allows departments to earmark unspent balances after year-end and reported a countywide surplus of about $5,000,000 at the end of last year. She said the sheriff’s office had "a little over $200,000" available after planned spending.

Sheriff’s office staff explained the county now has eight PINs (partnership) contracts that assign deputies to municipalities and schools; across those contracts the county typically pays roughly 20% of the cost. Presenters said the vehicle would be county-owned and the dedicated deputy would provide school resource and patrol services for the partner districts for the coming year. Several commissioners supported a one-year stopgap while longer-term alternatives are developed.

The board recorded a roll call and took the vote on the package of items that included this authorization. The board did not direct additional appropriations beyond the surplus transfer outlined in the motion.