Dispute over SB 22 accounting surfaces as sheriff, district attorney seek clearer reporting

A dispute over the administration and reporting of Senate Bill 22 (SB22) funds surfaced during Polk County’s Aug. 4 special session as the sheriff and the district attorney pressed county staff for clearer accounting of remaining SB22 monies.

Shelley, who identified herself during public comment as the office supervising the county prosecutors, said the pay-rate discussion must account for SB22 supplements and warned that announcing raises without coordinating amounts paid from SB22 versus county funds could create employee confusion. “But the problem is you can't look at this pay rate with only county funds,” Shelley said.

Sheriff's office representatives said they had repeatedly asked for a simple ledger showing remaining SB22 funds for equipment and consoles and that they had not received the information. County staff (Carrie) explained the court had chosen to simplify administration by budgeting SB22 to fully fund certain newly added positions rather than tracking varying eligibility percentages for many employees; staff said the choice was made to avoid an "administrative nightmare" of tracking per-employee percentages and ensure the county did not have to return unused state funds.

Carrie summarized the county's posture: the $500,000 was originally requested to fund salaries and, because implementation began midyear, the first year left funds that were used for equipment; thereafter the court budgeted the $500,000 into salaries to stabilize reporting. Commissioners and department heads agreed to improve communication and to include departments earlier in conversations about how SB22 supplement dollars are applied.

The exchange did not produce a unilateral change to SB22 accounting, but commissioners asked staff to produce clearer reporting and to include impacted departments in budget discussions going forward.