Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sheriff and fire chief tell supervisors calls and staffing needs have risen; board urged to find $600K in budget gap
Summary
Sheriff Lumpkin reported a surge in calls (13,453 in 2024 to 17,807 in 2025) and urged the board to fund additional deputies; the fire chief described non‑compliant apparatus staffing and high turnover. County administrator Staney outlined budget adjustments and said roughly $600,000 will need to be addressed before budget adoption in May.
Public‑safety leaders and the county administrator pressed the Board of Supervisors to account for rising emergency call volumes and staffing shortfalls as the board finalizes its budget.
Sheriff Lumpkin told the board the sheriff’s office saw calls increase from "13,453" in 2024 to "17,807" in 2025 and described cases in which limited staffing lengthened response times; he urged supervisors to prioritize additional deputies during budget deliberations. The fire chief testified that current daily crewing leaves some apparatus non‑compliant for interior structure entry and described a high turnover rate and operational strain; the chief said additional positions would help reach compliance and reduce overtime dependency.
County administrator Staney provided budget updates and said department‑level restructuring and other reductions produced about $142,000 in personnel savings and $280,000 in discretionary savings, while school requests were trimmed by about $459,086. Staney said the board still faces a funding shortfall on the order of $600,000 and can either ask the schools for further reductions, adjust county position requests, or use reserves ahead of the May 11 budget adoption schedule.
Next steps: the board scheduled public hearings for the budget on May 4 (open) and May 11 (close and adoption) and will continue deliberations on personnel priorities and reserve use.
