COMMENTS REGARDING THE FUNDING OF THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE

The New Hanover County Sheriff is a duly elected official and operates as a separate entity, however the office of the Sheriff receives its funding primarily from the taxpayers of New Hanover County by means of the Ad Valorem Tax which is currently set at 68 cents per $100 of real property value.

Real estate values have increased dramatically over the past few years. The county has seen stellar growth and housing starts have soared. This adds generously to the existing tax base of 19.4 billion dollars.
Each penny of increase in tax is worth 1.9 million dollars to the general fund.

The County is recommending a 7.8% increase in the 2007 budget. This is an 18.5 million dollar increase.

WHERE DOES NEW HANOVER COUNTY RANK IN TAXING ITS CITIZENS?
The John Locke Foundation says that New Hanover County places the 2nd in the State in placing the highest burden on the taxpayers with a figure of $1,919.39 of local revenues per capita. It places the county at 3rd with $1,120.90 in property tax burden per capita and is also third highest in sales tax.

HOW MUCH OF A BURDEN IS THE SHERIFF’S REQUEST?
New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey is asking for 30 million dollars this year. Last year his budget was 27 million dollars. In 2005 it was 25 million, which was a 14% increase over the year before that. The increase was mostly due to the need to add more detention officers even though the new jail facility was suppose to cut back on the need for personnel. In the 2002- 2003 county budget the sheriff requested extra funds to handle the departments overtime pay created by, as Causey said, the extra hours brought on because of September 11, 2001. The 2001-02 budget was the year that taxes went up 8 cents to 69 cents per $100 of value, needed to service the 193.9 million dollar budget. The 2006-2007 budget is asking for $256,859,547.

ARE THE SHERIFF’S EMPLOYEES PROPERLY COMPENSATED?
All departments looking for funding have their need. In 2002, the sheriff needed extra money to handle the overtime. In 2000, Sheriff Joe McQueen wanted an increase in his budget to fund pay raises for the department’s deputies, claiming he was losing his hires to the local police department. Yet according to a June 7, 2000 Wilmington Star News article in which he was corrected, there was no disparity between the two agencies. This was the year that the taxes were 56 cents on $100 worth of property to cover a budget of 172.1 million dollars. The Sheriff does not have to worry about employees being unhappy with their wages. There are over 300 employees, 30 of which are making over $50,000 per year, 91 make between 40 and $50,000 a year, and overtime paid to the deputies totaled for the first three quarters of the fiscal year, just under one million dollars. A few deputies are actually making upwards of 25% of their salary from overtime pay. Yet turnover continues to be high at the Sheriff’s Office and as Chief Deputy Tom Parker stated, “Every new deputy takes over $10,000 to train”.

AS THE COUNTY SHERIFF’S TERRITORY SHRINKS IS THERE A NEED TO RAISE THE BUDGET?
Taxes are increasing and needs seem to be the same, at least at the Sheriff’s Office. Every year the same requests are being asked for and funded. The Sheriff’s Office has grown, while the territory has been gobbled up by the City. Services are duplicated between the Sheriff and the Wilmington Police Department. A consolidation of the two agencies warrants legitimate discussion, the City and County law enforcement agencies are presently chasing the same suspects. Crime knows no boundary.

HOW DOES THE SHERIFF’S BUDGET COMPARE TO OTHER SHERIFF’S BUDGETS IN THE STATE?
In examining the budget of 6 other county sheriff offices it was found that New Hanover County exceeds the normal spending levels of Buncombe, Cumberland, Durham, Gaston, Harnett, and Wake Counties. For instance, the New Hanover County Jail has an annual cost of $27,000 per inmate held in custody. Buncombe cost per inmate is $22,000, Cumberland is $19,000, Durham $16,000, Harnett $15,000, Wake $16,000.

IS THERE ONE SINGLE EXAMPLE OF WASTEFUL SPENDING BY THE SHERIFF?
The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office is perhaps, one of the most heavily funded Sheriff’s Offices in the State and yet more tax money continues to pour into its coffers. Continuing to feed the unsubstantiated requests for more funds is like feeding glazed donuts to a grossly obese, diabetic child.

After review of the Sheriff’s budget several observations of questionable spending were made, some small as a few thousand dollars a month in wasteful spending and one expense that could save taxpayers over one million dollars. There does not seem to be any intentional deception on the part of the Sheriff. It seems to be merely of a lack of responsible management.

The biggest questionable item seeming to be a considerable waste of money is the contract with the company that is handling the inmates’ health needs. New Hanover County has a contract with Prison Health Services that is over one million dollars more than a similar contract between Prison Health Services and Gaston County. Gaston County has a population of 194,000 people. New Hanover has 174,000 people. Gaston County has 81,000 homes, New Hanover has 83,000. Both jails handle nearly the same number of inmates. The contracts are nearly identical in regards to services. Yet New Hanover County pays $1,990,354 and Gaston County contracted for $714,743. Cumberland County has budgeted $1,200,000 to handle the health needs of its 500 daily average inmates, $700,000 less than New Hanover County.

WHO SUFFERS IF THE SHERIFF’S REQUEST FOR FUNDING IS GRANTED?
The 2006-2007 proposed budget has items of requests from various non-county agencies. Human services organizations such as the Good Shepard Ministry requested $2,000 to assist in the shelter and feeding of the homeless population is recommended not to be funded. The Food Bank’s request for $30,000 is being denied. Cape Fear Volunteer Center’s request will also not be funded by the county due to other agencies gobbling up the county’s funds. The Courts took a 10% hit, Juvenile Services budget went from 1.6 million to $500,000. Public Safety Communications budget shrank from 4.8 to 3.5 million dollars. And there was virtually no increase in the Department of Social Services budget.

Many worthy causes are desperately in need of funding. Yet there seems to be none available even with so many tax increases.

IS THERE A SOLUTION?
Perhaps a Commission can be authorized to study the possibility of consolidating the City and County Law Enforcement Agencies. When impartially judicious eyes study the budgets of the two agencies, line-by-line, it is quite possible that an effective solution can be launched in order to save the taxpayers the hardship of wasteful county spending. It could be that as the demands for security grow in the courts and governmental offices and the need to house, care for, and transport the ever growing inmate population causes strains on the departmental focus for the essential enforcement of the State laws and Statutes, time may have come to limit the Sheriff to his constitutional responsibilities and allow the City to take over some of the responsibility the Wilmington Police Department has proved so effectively be able to carry.

There is, as County Manager Bruce Shell put it, more than one way to skin a budget.