SWEETWATER COUNTY — The following is a press release from Sweetwater County Sheriff Mike Lowell.
The full text follows:
At Tuesday’s Sweetwater County Commission meeting, the claim was made that the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is projected to be over budget for this fiscal year by $291,000.
Sheriff Mike Lowell disagrees. In fact, he said Tuesday afternoon, by his reckoning and that of his senior staff, for the Sheriff’s Office budget for this fiscal year any potential shortfall should be far less – and perhaps only a fraction – of the figure asserted.
“There are many factors that come into play in a budget assessment such as this,” Lowell said, “and there is a great deal here that may have been overlooked or misinterpreted. For instance, for the one-time holiday bonus the Commission authorized last year, the Sheriff’s Office budget was charged over $92,000 to cover Sheriff’s Office employees and, in addition, apparently not taken into account was the $103,000 for additional Sheriff’s Office positions already approved by the Commission, all based on payroll figures”
Lowell pointed out that, in addition, the $103,000 in positions addresses raw salaries only. “Funding positions extends well beyond simple salaries,” he said. “You have to deal also with adjunct factors such as benefits, insurance, retirement, and a host of other factors and those must be paid for. At the end of the day, our benefits package equals nearly half the salary figure for many positions.”
Lowell continued: “This situation extends all the way back to last year’s severe budget cuts. And looming just over the horizon is the upcoming opening of the nearly-completed Sweetwater County Justice Complex and the responsibilities we will be assuming for its security. As I pointed out in May of 2017, “The responsibility for providing safety and security for the entire operation lies solely with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, and I simply will not be able to provide that safety and security at a reduced budget level.”
Lowell said he and his staff are working hard to resolve the situation: “Sound interpretation of the data and good communication will be key.”
