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Commissioners discuss creating a sheriff-specific millage, but caution on timing
Summary
Board members debated carving out unincorporated millage to create a sheriff-specific levy to improve transparency and funding clarity, but several commissioners and staff warned legal and timing constraints make such a change difficult ahead of the November referendum.
Some commissioners urged converting part of the county's unincorporated millage into a sheriff-specific millage to make law-enforcement funding more transparent.
"Repurpose the unincorporated millage as the sheriff's millage," one commissioner suggested during the June 8 workshop, arguing it would let taxpayers see explicitly what they pay for law enforcement. Supporters said the change could target charges to users of unincorporated services and provide clearer accounting.
Staff and government-relations counsel warned of timing and statutory constraints. Brady Anderson, government-relations manager, noted the vote thresholds associated with raising millage: reaching 110% of rollback requires a larger majority and going beyond that can require unanimous board action depending on state rules. Other commissioners cautioned that making such a reallocation this year would tie sheriff funding directly to the November ballot outcomes and could complicate budgeting.
The board asked staff to evaluate scenarios and legal timing for any millage reconfiguration and whether a separate unincorporated or sheriff-specific millage is feasible before next year's tax-roll schedule.
