Budget woes and no’s: Sheriff’s office explains expenses

Published 7:37 am Tuesday, April 30, 2024

SOUTH BEND — On paper, it looks like the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office is flying through its budget only a third of the way through the year. The numbers show that the agency could be in trouble if current spending trends continue.

The sheriff’s office and Pacific County General Administration, including county commissioners, met on Monday, April 29, for a budget workshop. County Chief Administrative Officer Paul Plakinger had one thing on his mind — an explanation of what was happening.

According to data presented during the meeting, the sheriff’s office has used up 215% of its budget for supplies, 83% of its money for other services, 36% of allotted overtime — but only about 33% of its overall budget for the year.

Some items of concern

By the end of April, the goal is for agencies to keep spending around 33% of the budget allotment. Plakinger and the county’s concern is that while the sheriff’s office is in the green, the agency could drift into the red should current spending trends continue.

“I just wanted to make sure, especially in this category and some of the ones that look like they are so far out of whack, talking about plans going forward,” Plakinger said. “Of course, you have a right to spend right up to but not exceed your bottom line.”

Some of the biggest expenses so far this year have been ammunition and office supplies. On Jan. 11 alone, the agency spent $4,701 purchasing ammunition from San Diego Police Equipment.

Office-swap costs

PCSO Chief Civil Deputy Hollie Billeci alluded to a recent office swap inside the sheriff’s office as a major contributor to the high spending. Deputies switched offices with the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency for smoother operations.

Pull Quote

‘The thing is that, when we come down here, and we do budgets, and we ask for things, you guys just say how we can’t. … So, we are trying to sit here to get this project done and have our guys get what they need and do it within the budgets you’ve already given us.’

Hollie Billeci, PCSO chief civil deputy

Part of the project involved minor renovations, including replacing carpeting damaged by a leak from the jail above the sheriff’s offices. The leak had been an issue for several years before it was addressed.

Agency spending is closely monitored by Billeci, who has an Excel spreadsheet that tracks spending in real-time. Billeci can check the status of each account with the agency with the click of a mouse.

In the past month, the agency has spent about $11,700 on desks and just over $3,000 on office paneling. The purchases were broken up independently to avoid the need for commissioner approval, which is required when a single purchase exceeds $5,000.

According to commissioners Lisa Olsen and Jerry Doyle, the expenses could have been sidestepped from taking up so much of the agency’s budget if the needs were brought to their attention. Funds could have been used from the county’s Capital Expense Fund because they were correlated to the renovation.

“When that popped up, a quick call to Paul of ‘Hey, this is what we are going to do,’” Olsen said after mentioning this could have been solved by better communication. “Do we have to take it out of here? We could have probably done something different.”

Now that the money has been spent and charged against the sheriff’s office budget, it can’t — without further issues — be replaced by funds from that fund. The state could take issue with such an ‘odd’ transfer of funds.

Hot-button issue

Budget talks have been a hot-button issue between the county and the sheriff’s office since Sheriff Daniel Garcia took office on Jan. 1, 2023. He attended the meeting via Zoom while helping with an environmental cleanup. His agency and the commissioners have butted heads regularly.

“The thing is that, when we come down here and we do budgets and we ask for things, you guys just say how we can’t,” Billeci said. “[You say] the jail is costing so much, and overall all these things are costing so much. So, we are trying to sit here to get this project done and have our guys get what they need and do it within the budgets you’ve already given us.”

“It didn’t need to happen,” Olsen said.

Billeci plans to offset the excessive spending in the supplies budget with funds from the repairs and maintenance budget. As of April 28, the repairs and maintenance fund reflects an anticipated balance of $47,185 after offsetting the overflow of $32,060.

Before the overflow, the budget had an anticipated balance of $79,245. Less than 50% of that budget remains for the remainder of the year.

Overtime

Another budget line the county is watching closely is overtime that as of April 28 is averaging around 9.1% a month of the annual allotment. If the agency continues the trend, it will hit its budget limit by the beginning of November.

The agency’s busiest season is the tourism season from May through October. Historically, the agency has burned through a significant portion of overtime allotment during this season.

“We also have three people in the academy,” PCSO Chief Criminal Deputy Randy Wiegardt said. “So, we are covering for three people now. It looks like we are staffed, but we are not. We are working overtime to cover for them while they are in the academy getting their salary.”

Wiegardt anticipates that the agency’s overtime needs will drop once the three return over the next two months.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Plakinger added.