As Manatee continues to grow, sheriff looks to county budget to hire 20 new employees
A budget increase of nearly $7 million to their annual budget still isn’t enough for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office to keep up with the demands of rapidly growing community.
In a 2020 budget plan presented to the Board of County Commissioners last week, County Administrator Cheri Coryea said she supports $2.7 million toward 20 new sheriff’s office positions. That request was less than half of all that Sheriff Rick Wells asked for.
In an April 30 letter informing Coryea of his budget request, Wells said he wanted 22 more law enforcement deputies, more domestic violence investigators, a crime analyst and other positions. The full ask was 44 new employees at the agency.
“We have tried to prioritize the positions needed,” Wells wrote in the six-page letter dated April 30. “This has been a very difficult task as we feel all of our positions requested are needed as the agency continues to grow and to aim for proactive community policing.”
Wells acknowledged that he was pleased with Coryea’s ability to meet his request in the middle at a budget review session before the Board of County Commissioners. In the grand scheme of things, the sheriff’s office takes a significant piece of the cake, and county officials have been willing to assist him in recent years.
“You’ve given me 30 deputies in the past three years, and we appreciate that,” Wells told commissioners Wednesday afternoon.
“We continue to deal with the growth,” he added. “Cheri and Jan (Brewer, director of financial management) understand that. It’s a compromise.”
Coryea explained that an expanded population brought about the need for more manpower at the sheriff’s office, but that there are still limitations to what Manatee can provide.
“We did negotiate. It wasn’t a slam dunk the first time around, but knowing what the sheriff needs and what the community needs helps,” she said.
Wells pointed out that there are nagging issues that chip into his budget and the general efficiency of the sheriff’s office. His agency has to pick up the slack from an understaffed Florida Highway Patrol to deal with traffic crashes and use money from the county budget to fund Child Protective Services within the sheriff’s office.
Commissioners did not raise any issue with Coryea’s recommendation for new staff at the sheriff’s office, calling it one of the easiest law enforcement funding allocations in recent years.
“I think this has been the easiest year with the budget and the sheriff’s office that I have ever seen or experienced, and it’s wonderful,” Commissioner Vanessa Baugh said. “We all know how important the sheriff is for the citizens of this county.”
“I came here today ready to go to bat for you guys and I’m glad we can all have a group hug instead,” Servia said, lending further support to the agency.
The sheriff’s office is set to receive a total of $133.2 million in the county’s fiscal year 2020 budget.