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Sheriff's office seeks large amendments to operating budget; finance director disputes underspending claims
Summary
Sheriff Bonner and CAO Alicia Lindsey asked the committee to reconcile discrepancies between the Sheriff's proposed Oracle EPM budget and the county team budget, and requested roughly $75M in adjustments (including pay parity, pay raises and overtime). Deputy CFO Michael Thompson contested the characterization that the Sheriff is underfunded, citing historical underspending.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner and the sheriff's administrative team asked the subcommittee to reconcile differences between their Oracle EPM submission and the county's team budget and requested a package of budget amendments that would increase the sheriff's FY26 budget to cover pay-schedule adjustments, vacant positions, overtime and other operational needs.
Chief Administrative Officer Alicia Lindsey told the committee the reconciliation uncovered revenue and vacancy differences and outlined requests including raising positions budgeted below the county's $40,502 minimum, a 3% general increase, and restoration of vacancy savings; she said the net package (excluding one withdrawn item) totaled tens of millions and that overtime alone has grown substantially. "So that's just cleaning up our PCB so that we can make sense and move forward," she said, describing the exhibits accompanying the request.
Deputy CFO Michael Thompson pushed back on some claims, saying in the hearing "what I've heard today and what you all have heard today, has been, factually false," and noting a historical trend of the Sheriff underspending line items by $8M–$18M in prior years. Commissioners asked for a dedicated working session to review the detail and scheduled follow‑up briefings before any formal appropriation; several items were sent to the full committee without recommendation pending that work.
