Sheriff's office proposes $280.2 million FY27 budget

BRADENTON — During a recent budget meeting, commissioners were presented with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office’s proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget. Interim Chief Financial Officer Claudia Campos outlined the $280.2 million request before commissioners discussed the proposal and engaged Sheriff Rick Wells on several aspects of the budget and some department operations.

The proposed budget represents an increase of approximately $11.9 million over the sheriff’s adopted FY26 budget of $269 million.

The county’s General Fund is the primary funding source for the sheriff’s budget. The sheriff’s budget accounts for nearly 42% of the county’s total General Fund expenditures, making it one of the largest individual appropriations commissioners consider each year. Funding allocated to the sheriff’s office represents approximately 29 cents of every property tax dollar collected, second only to the Manatee County School Board, which receives approximately 50 cents of every tax dollar collected. Capital expenses within the sheriff’s budget are funded separately through impact fees.

Campos told commissioners that the proposed FY27 budget reflects the sheriff’s operational needs, personnel requirements, capital investments and service obligations for the upcoming fiscal year.

The request includes funding for several services administered by the sheriff’s office to outside agencies, including school crossing guards, court security, inmate road crews and the jail’s shelter dog program. These service programs account for approximately $17.2 million of the proposed budget, representing an increase of roughly 11% over the previous fiscal year’s spending on services for outside agencies.

The proposed budget also includes funding for 33 new positions, including 24 certified law enforcement or corrections positions and seven civilian positions. Requested additions include two Violent Crimes Task Force detectives, an Internet Crimes Against Children sergeant, two fraud detectives, five road and traffic deputies, six school crossing guards and a crossing guard manager, three court deputies, two firearms examiners, a shelter dog deputy and eight corrections deputies assigned to the jail’s medical wing.

The requested positions account for approximately $4.8 million of the overall budget request.

According to Campos, the sheriff’s office has identified approximately $7.6 million in offsetting revenues, with approximately $7.3 million already deposited into the county’s General Fund.

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“The sheriff’s FY27 proposed budget addresses staffing shortages, growth, safety needs and operational capacity,” Campos said. “These investments help maintain and enhance public safety.”

Following the presentation, commissioners expressed appreciation for the sheriff’s office while acknowledging the increasing operational demands placed on the department.

Commissioner George Kruse thanked Wells for working with commissioners to reduce the original budget request before the formal presentation, saying the sheriff had been willing to identify opportunities to reduce spending.

“Your original requested budget was significantly higher than this, and a few of us met with you, and we went through—without a whole lot of prodding—you came down off your original budget,” Kruse said. “You took a lot of time to meet with us and come up with ways of trimming your budget. We appreciate that.”

Kruse also said commissioners recognize that local law enforcement agencies are being forced to absorb responsibilities increasingly shifted from the state, citing traffic patrol and incident response traditionally handled by the Florida Highway Patrol.

“The Florida Highway Patrol should be handling our roads, and they’re not,” Kruse said, giving one example of how the state can sometimes tout a state-level budget cut by passing off certain operational and financial responsibilities to local governments.    

“I just want people to understand that this is a smaller increase and most of those increases are responsive—they aren’t you just wanting more manpower, but covering things that are being pushed upon you,” Kruse said.

In his comments, Commission Chair Tal Siddique echoed Kruse’s points regarding unfunded mandates, particularly the state’s shifting of responsibilities from FHP to local deputies. He also equally expressed appreciation for the sheriff’s willingness to work with commissioners on not only a revised budget, but on other expanded programs in support of county initiatives which also account for some of the increase, such as the implementation of an animal shelter program at the jail, additional supportive programs to help address area homelessness, and the department’s collaborative work in helping to address the local opioid crisis.    

Noting that the Florida Association of Counties does not have a formal policy position on shifting of responsibilities away from FHP and onto local law enforcement, Siddique added that, “As a county, I think we need to individually support, as part of our legislative priorities, this issue. Because, until it's escalated, no one pays attention to it. It’s time counties got together and recognized that at the end of the day the state is passing these costs on—which if that’s their approach and that’s what they’re firm on—then people will see a corresponding increase in their sheriffs’ budgets.“

While the discussion centered primarily on the proposed budget, commissioners also used the opportunity to question Wells about the Sheriff’s Office’s use of Flock license plate reader cameras. This issue has generated increased public discussion in recent months.

Commissioner Bob McCann asked whether the proposed budget included funding for the purchase of additional Flock devices.

Wells confirmed that the budget includes annual service fees associated with the system. He said he did not have the exact annual cost available during the meeting but noted that the expense consists of ongoing service charges.

Wells also addressed concerns regarding privacy and data security associated with the technology, explaining that access to information collected by the cameras is subject to strict departmental protocols.

He said personnel must have both a case number and a legitimate law enforcement purpose before accessing license plate information. Wells also said the department conducts bi-weekly audits to review access activity and that information sent to Flock is purged on a monthly schedule.

Any violation of those protocols or misuse of the information collected by the system would result in prosecution as a third-degree felony, Wells said.

“You’re going to go to jail, law enforcement officer or not,” Wells said.

“We have to go in with a case number and a law enforcement purpose to view any of the tag information collected,” Wells said. “The devices have been a game changer… In the last few years we have arrested 137 felons from Flock.”

At one point in the exchange, Kruse—who has been an outspoken opponent of the use of red light cameras and school zone cameras—jokingly asked the sheriff whether he knew how much he could get by selling off the department’s Flock camera inventory, a quip that received some laughter as Kruse reiterated that he was only joking. 

Siddique said concerns about Flock’s broader privacy implications are largely questions for the company to address through its own policies, transparency, and handling of collected information. He said he was not aware of any issues involving misuse or abuse of the system by the sheriff’s office or its personnel.

“I trust that you guys are doing the right thing,” Siddique told Wells. “It’s really for the company to defend what they’re doing, not for our sheriff’s office.”

McCann agreed with some of the comments made by other commissioners but said he believes the public should have greater access to information about how tax dollars are allocated toward public safety, the increasing responsibilities placed on the sheriff’s office through unfunded mandates, and how technologies such as Flock cameras are used and safeguarded.

“We’re privy to much more information than the public,” McCann said. “And the public wants that information.”

For more information on the FY27 budget process, or to review the full county proposed budget presentation or budget summary, visit: mymanatee.org/departments/financial-management-department/budget-division

Click the video below to replay the July 30 budget meeting in its entirety.