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Sheriff's Office tells subcommittee salary restrictions undermine FY2026 public-safety planning
Summary
Shelby County Sheriff's Office leaders urged the subcommittee to reject language allowing post-adoption salary restrictions, saying a $44.3 million 'salary restriction' in FY25 functioned as a negative expenditure and impaired recruiting and operations.
The Shelby County Sheriff's Office urged the county budget subcommittee to consider its full FY2026 request without preemptive cuts to personnel accounts, arguing that a long-standing budgeting mechanism known as salary restriction (or vacancy savings) has hampered recruitment and service delivery.
"In fiscal year 2025, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office personnel budget includes a $44,300,000 salary restriction," Alicia Lindsey, chief administrative officer for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, told the panel during a slide presentation. She said the office excluded any amount for account 55635 from its FY2026 submission and asked the commission to remove resolution language that would authorize cross-departmental reallocation or post-adoption restrictions.
Lindsey said the practice effectively reduces a department's personnel budget even when salary and benefit lines appear to fully fund positions. "Although account number 5102 salaries and benefits may appear to fully fund all positions, the use of account 5635 salary restriction as a negative expenditure offsets that funding," she said, arguing the practice "undermines effective planning" and may conflict with statutory maintenance-of-effort requirements.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner, introduced by the CAO during the presentation, backed that view and reiterated the need to keep positions fully funded so the office can recruit and retain staff. "Sheriff Bonner does not support the use of salary restrictions, vacancy savings, or any restrictions in the Shelby County Sheriff's Office fiscal year 2026 budget," the CAO said on his behalf.
The presenters cited outside guidance to buttress their position: Lindsey referenced the Tennessee Comptroller's Office and the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service (CTAS), which have advised against using negative expenditure lines when creating operating budgets. The office asked the commission to consider procurement and approval-threshold adjustments that would allow more flexibility for public-safety expenditures.
The subcommittee did not vote on budget language at the meeting. Commissioners said they would review the presentation and related charter citations before taking action.
