Sheriff seeks more funding

Errors could leave Fresno County department with a $2.3 million deficit.

By Kerri Ginis / The Fresno Bee

10/18/06 04: 13:11

Fresno County supervisors, already struggling to cover extra bills for probation, court and jail costs, were hit Tuesday with another plea for money — this time from the Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Richard Pierce told supervisors that his department discovered errors that could leave the next sheriff with a $2.3 million deficit by the end of the budget year next June.

Who was at fault was a matter of debate.

Sheriff's officials blamed the county's budget director and personnel department for not providing accurate information as this year's budget was drafted. But county officials said the fault lies with the Sheriff's Department.

Pierce asked county supervisors to cover the shortfall now, so it won't be left when his successor takes office in January. County administrators, however, cautioned the board against filling the budget gap now. They said the sheriff may be able to tap additional revenue from housing federal prisoners at the jail.

But Pierce said that revenue may not come through and he could be forced to make other cuts if the board doesn't give him the money.

County supervisors told sheriff's officials to double-check their numbers with the county budget director and report back in 30 days. They also said they are eager to see the results of an internal audit under way analyzing the department's spending from two years ago.

Over the last month, county supervisors have agreed to spend $3.8 million to add prosecutors, public defenders and probation officers to help alleviate jail crowding that has prompted the sheriff to release 15 inmates since Oct. 9. The inmates, facing misdemeanor and civil charges, were released to allow the jail to accommodate more serious offenders.

The Sheriff's Department has struggled with its budget previously.

During budget deliberations in July, Pierce told supervisors he needed $1.1million to balance his 2006-07 budget. He ultimately filled that gap by reorganizing staff.

On Tuesday, sheriff's officials said they failed to budget enough money this year to cover the cost of health and retirement benefits for the department's 1,200 employees. That led to a $1.58 million shortfall in its $135 million budget. In addition, the department needs $725,000 to cover a recently negotiated contract with correctional officers.

Steve Forker, the sheriff's administrative services director, told the board that he received incorrect projections for health and retirement costs.

He said the same budget snafu occurred last year, but it wasn't noticed until August — after this year's budget was approved. The department made up for last year's $2.8 million shortfall with surplus funds.

"This year, we don't have any slack," Forker said.

Kathleen Donawa, the county's budget director, said her staff gave the sheriff the right projections; the sheriff got the math wrong. "The amount budgeted was appropriate and considered accurate."

Supervisors questioned why the Sheriff's Department was the only county department with this problem.

Pierce told the board that even if Donawa's projections are correct, his department doesn't have enough money to make up the difference: "It's more than we budgeted for. Sitting on that for another two or three months isn't going to make it any easier to fix."

Forker said he wasn't aware of the contract negotiations with the correctional officers when he prepared the department's budget last spring. He said the contract was reopened, and county negotiators never told him that the contract would cost more this year.

That's not true, said DeAnn VonBerg, the county's personnel services manager. The department was told about the potential for the correctional officers contract to be reopened in January after the sheriff's deputies received a new contract. The correctional officers have a contract clause that enables them to negotiate to match benefits given to other bargaining units.

The correctional officers approved a contract in September that gave them a uniform allowance and extra pay for educational advancement. The added costs amount to $725,000 for the rest of the year.

County Administrative Officer Bart Bohn said he can understand why sheriff's officials don't want to run a deficit this year. But he also told the board there was no rush to fix the problem.

Extra money the department receives for housing federal prisoners could cover the gap, he said.

But Pierce reminded the board that he was told to reduce the number of federal prisoners in the jail because of crowding concerns. The department has already reduced the number of federal prisoners from 410 to 379 and is working to move even more out of the jail.

The goal is to reduce the number the county contracts for to 260. Revenue for those prisoners already is factored into his budget for this year, meaning there wouldn't be any excess revenue to rely on, he said.

"You asked me to get rid of that revenue," he told the board. "We are moving forward on that."

The reporter can be reached at kginis@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6317.