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Commissioners set direction on sheriff certificate pay after $1,500 shortfall; staff to bring budget amendment and annual policy
Summary
The court reviewed FY26 certificate-pay allocations for the sheriff's enforcement ($159,000) and corrections ($62,400) divisions, identified an approximate $1,500 shortfall under current certificate counts, approved policy items (8b) and asked staff to bring a budget amendment and a one‑time annual policy for awarding certificate pay at budget time.
County staff detailed how the FY26 budget included $159,000 for certificate pay in the sheriff's enforcement division and $62,400 for the corrections division. Staff said that paying current certificates immediately would produce about a $1,500 shortfall relative to the line items as adopted; they presented two policy options: (1) award certificate pay only once per year at budget adoption so the number is fixed for fiscal planning, or (2) pay certificates as officers earn them during the year and manage budget amendments as needed.
Commissioners discussed creating a single, central certificate-pay line item to simplify transfers when deputies move between enforcement and jail functions and to reduce the need for multiple intra-year budget amendments. Several commissioners favored adopting an annual-run policy (certificates counted as of April 1 for budget purposes) and using contingency or a small budget amendment this year to cover the $1,500 shortfall.
The court approved motion 8b to adopt the certificate-pay approach discussed, directed staff to prepare a budget amendment to cover the current shortfall, and asked that the auditor and sheriff return with a plan to formalize the annual cutoff and line-item structure for FY27.
