To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Sheriff’s Office
Staff Name and Phone Number: Connie Newton, 565-8884
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
Supervisorial District(s): All
Title:
Title
Sheriff’s Office FY 19-20 Budget Resolution
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt Resolution adjusting the FY 2019-2020 Adopted Budget, increasing expenditure appropriations and offsetting revenue in the Sheriff’s Office budget by $477,500 for the purpose of using one-time funds to address critical one-time operational needs. This action benefits the public by using unanticipated revenue to cover essential needs.
(4/5th Vote Required)
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Executive Summary:
Over a number of years the Sheriff’s Office has accumulated unanticipated revenue from several sources and wishes to use these funds to address multiple, one-time, unfunded needs. Such costs include emergency preparedness purchases for the adult detention facilities, Tasers for Detention, services needed to comply with recent legislation and the use of K9 Program donations given to the Office. These sources of unanticipated revenue have been accumulating for over twenty years. Funds from these sources have never been transferred to the Sheriff’s Office budget.
Discussion:
The Sheriff’s Office has accumulated a variety of one-time funds that are specifically to be used by the Sheriff’s Office. Historically, these funds have been held in a Trust in order to allow the funds to accumulate into amounts that can be used to offset unmet operational needs of the Sheriff’s Office, thereby, reducing the need for the Sheriff to request an increase from the County’s General Fund. These specific funds are not deposited into the County’s General Fund based on governmental accounting principles. Examples of these unanticipated funds include miscellaneous donations received from members of the community for Sheriff’s Office activities, revenue from employee purchases of phased out equipment (the revenue collected from employee sales is applied to new equipment purchases), and interest earnings from the balance of funds being held in the Trust.
These small funding receipts have accumulated for several years to allow the balances to increase so they can be used to fund Sheriff’s Office one-time resources needed to support operations. In addition to the small miscellaneous receipts, the Sheriff’s Office has a balance of escheated funds, which are available to assist with unfunded needs. Escheatment refers to the title transfer of unclaimed monies from unclaimed seized property, unclaimed found property, and stale dated checks to a state authority. The County’s escheatment policy requires that the Sheriff request Board approval to transfer escheated funds from the Trust in which these funds were held to the Sheriff’s operational budget. The Board provided this approval on August 22, 2017 and September 17, 2019. The various Trust fund balances are as follows:
The Sheriff has identified several critical needs totaling $477,500 for use of the funds. These needs were not identified at the time the 19-20 Budget was being prepared.
1) Detention Tasers ($251,000): Best practices in detention operations require that all correctional deputies are equipped with a Taser. Currently, staff share a pool of 86 Tasers. At the end of a shift, correctional deputies give the Taser to the employee taking over the next shift. Purchasing a sufficient number of Tasers for each correctional deputy will increase the accuracy and usefulness of Taser use audits and better align the Sheriff’s Office Detention Division with industry standards. This request will fund approximately 125 Tasers and necessary accessories. Detention needs 202 Tasers to provide all full time correctional deputies and sergeants with a Taser and maintain an inventory of nine spare Tasers.
2) Adult Detention Facility Emergency Preparedness ($120,000) -several recent events in the Sheriff’s Adult Detention Facilities have exposed deficiencies in the inmate evacuation process. Detention managers have been working diligently to update emergency and evacuation plans and as a result, several critical needs have been identified. This budget resolution will appropriate funds to provide essential safety equipment, and adequate security fencing in the evacuation holding area.
3) SB 978 Compliance ($80,000) - One of the components of SB 978 requires local law enforcement agencies to post, on line, all current standards, policies, practices, operating procedures, and education and training materials that would otherwise be available to the public. In order to fulfill these requirements within the required timeframes, the Sheriff’s Office has retained a consultant to assist with this project. This budget resolution will appropriate funding needed to fund the consultant’s contract. A specialized consultant is being used to review existing polices, covert existing policies into a format that complies with online posting requirements, and continuously update policies based on legislative changes.
4) Radio Battery Replacement ($16,500)- Currently, there is an issue impairing proper functionality of Detention radios. The Sheriff’s T-Comm Manager has determined that the issue can be resolved by replacing all of the radio batteries. If this solution is not implemented, all of the radios in Detention will need to be replaced, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost estimate for the battery replacement is based on purchasing two new batteries for every radio user in Detention. This amount will provide for approximately 300 batteries. The remainder of batteries needed for the inventory of 280 radios will be purchased within the Sheriff’s FY 19-20 Adopted Budget.
5) Sheriff’s K-9 ($10,000) - The Sheriff’s Office was awarded $10,000 in funding from Sean M. Walsh K-9 Memorial Foundation, a community-based organization, specifically for the purchase of a Sheriff’s K-9. This award was received just before the FY 19-20 Budget Hearings, therefore could not be incorporated into the Sheriff’s FY 19-20 Budget request. Two of the Sheriff’s Office existing K-9s are retiring in FY 19-20, and these funds will be used to purchase one of the new K-9s. The second replacement K-9 is already included in the Sheriff’s FY 19-20 Adopted budget. The Board’s policy requirements for spending unanticipated revenue, require a Budgetary Resolution to spend the funds.
The estimated grand total for the above projects is $477,500. If the balances in the Trusts are not used to fund these needs, the Sheriff will request additional funds from the Board to address these critical operational needs.
Prior Board Actions:
08/22/17 & 09/17/19- Board approved transfer of unclaimed funds to County General Fund
Fiscal Summary
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Expenditures |
FY 19-20 Adopted |
FY20-21 Projected |
FY 21-22 Projected |
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Budgeted Expenses |
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
477,500 |
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Total Expenditures |
477,500 |
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Funding Sources |
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General Fund/WA GF |
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State/Federal |
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Fees/Other |
477,500 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
477,500 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
If approved, this Budgetary Resolution will add expenditure appropriations for the Sheriff’s Office one-time critical projects. All costs will be offset with Sheriff’s accumulated miscellaneous funds as described above. There will be no increase to the General Fund as a result of this Board action.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Budgetary Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
N/A