Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry is looking to once again increase the budget for the crack crew of the Communications Department. According to documents, Huckelberry’s recommended budget “expenditure of $2,052,081 is $177,487 above the fiscal year 2016/17 Adopted Budget.”
The number of full-time employees is expected to remain at 20.
The Communications Department is a vital part of Huckelberry’s overall economic development strategy. The Department pumps out PR faster than the majority on the Board of Supervisors can approve Huckelberry’s delivery of taxpayer funds to chosen business interests.
At the same time, Huckelberry is recommending that the Board of Supervisors support his decision to turn down three requests for supplemental funding by the Sheriff’s Department. Unlike, the Communications Department, Sheriff Mark Napier has reduced the number of his full time employees. The Sheriff’s Office has 1,489.25 full time employees, “a decrease of 38.75 from the fiscal year 2016/17 Adopted Budget,” according to the Fiscal Year 2017/2018 Pima County Administrator’s Recommended Budget.
Budget highlights include:
Various departments submitted 12 supplemental funding requests totaling $5,590,450.”
In addition, two supplemental revenue requests totaling $9,446,627 were submitted by the Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department, but they ultimately rely on sewer user fee increases in the future.
The largest set of requests, totaling $4,791,436, or 86 percent, was submitted by the Sheriff’s Department.
$2,566,094 of these requests are related to previous Board approved salary increases where all County departments and agencies were required to accommodate the expenditure increase within their adopted budgets. Of this amount, $1,400,000 relates to the FY 2014/15 50-cent per hour salary increase, and the remaining $1,166,094 relates to the FY 2016/17 general and decompression adjustments.
The remainder of the Sheriff’s requests include funding for motor pool, supplies and services, and various information technology costs. I have not funded these requests for any department, and I will not fund them for the Sheriff’s Department.
Other requests by departments include additional funding ranging from additional positions to funding motor pool increases and other supplies and services costs to funding specific programs or Courts and minimum wage adjustments.
Huckelberry concludes, “I have reviewed all of the supplemental requests submitted, and I am not recommending approving any at this time.”
Sheriff Napier said, “As the Sheriff of our County I am working very hard to ensure we are as lean and as smart as possible. We appreciate the increases Mr. Huckelberry is recommending for our budget, but are a little disappointed that some critical IT infrastructure needs may not be supported. We will continue to work very hard to ensure that PCSD operates in a fiscally responsible manner without compromise to public safety in our County.”