SanTanValley.com

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu is on track to exceed his budget by more than $3.2 million by the end of the fiscal year if current spending levels continue, county officials say.

The overage, which equals about seven percent of the sheriff's total budget, is the combined result of overtime pay for deputies and detention staff, patrol fuel costs, wages and employee-related expenses, according to Leo Lew, county budget and research director.

Sheriff's finance officials say any overspending is inevitable: fuel costs more now that it did in 2009, yet the annual fuel budget of $800,000 has remained the same for the last three years; jail inmate food costs are higher; payouts for unused vacation to departing employees; and increased employee pension contributions.

Sheriff's staff also cited a July 2011 agreement between supervisors and the county's law-enforcement union over wages for employees on assignment and benefits that has increased personnel costs. If supervisors approved the memorandum of understanding, sheriff's officials contend, the board also should have provided additional funding.

But supervisors blame the budget overrun on poor money management by Babeu, a Republican who is seeking his party's nomination for Congress later this year.

The issue goes beyond a partisan fight. Tempers flared Wednesday during a mid-year budget presentation to supervisors that outlined overages in both the Sheriff's Office and the School Superintendent's Office. The latter is $13,633 over budget because a departing employee cashed in unused vacation, Lew said.

"The budget is kind of a contract between an elected official and the board," Supervisor Bryan Martyn, a Republican, told the crowd. "If somebody is not living up to the contract or failing to negotiate, well, that's where I have heartburn. If the sheriff needed $3 million more dollars, dammit, the sheriff needed to ask for $3 million. You can't leave us hanging like this. We have worked too hard to let mismanagement affect the bottom line."

Martyn and Board Chairman Pete Rios, a Democrat and frequent critic of Babeu, grilled Lew on what measures his staff is taking to help the Sheriff's Office minimize any impact on the county's general fund. None of the supervisors called upon two sheriff's finance staffers and an administrator sitting in the audience.

Lew told supervisors that he has been talking with sheriff's finance officials and that both sides are meeting next week to identify any operational changes that can be made and to explore any new funding sources.

Earlier this month, supervisors asked staff to compile an opinion outlining their legal authority to control an elected officer's spending.

Chris Roll, chief civil deputy attorney for Pinal County, gave his opinion on what authority supervisors can do to rein in an elected officer's spending:

He said a county cannot spend more money than allotted for each purpose in the final budget for that year.

To control an elected official's spending, supervisors may:

approve money transfers from one line-item in the official's budget to another to remedy overspending;

draw from another fund, such as the county's contingency fund, to increase the official's total budget;

disapprove of any non-fixed expenditure that would cause an overage;

or require the official to set aside money in the following year's budget to pay for current non-fixed expenditures.

Additionally, Roll noted, supervisors can inspect elected officials' accounts and require them to make reports.

Elias Johnson, a sheriff's spokesman, said staff have been working to cut costs, particularly in areas of desert operations and overtime.

Johnson said sheriff's administration recently held an emergency meeting, and that Chief Deputy Steve Henry told employees, "We all need to come up with ways to save money right now... We're in an emergency."

Lew's presentation on Wednesday followed a discussion led by County Manager Frtiz Behring on budget priorities for the coming fiscal year.

In a Jan. 10 memo to the board, Behring said the county will have to cut $2 million to balance the 2012-13 budget and maintain current service levels without increasing the primary property tax rate, now set at 3.99 percent. County employees will not receive a cost-of-living adjustment for the fifth year in a row, Behring said.

"I promise you, if you agree with this process, that will make it far less difficult than last year," Behring told supervisors. "All of this contemplates everyone living within their budgets."

Babeu, who was not present at the meeting, e-mailed a statement in his defense:

"The board made agreements with labor unions and then failed to fund their agreement. ...Fuel costs went from $1.78-$1.83 a gallon in 2008 to over $3.40 and higher over the past three years. The county hasn't allowed an increase in the fuel budget to cover this growing expense."

Johnson said Babeu, his deputy and jails chiefs, and his communications/grants director are currently in Washington, D.C., for the 2012 Winter Conference of the National Sheriffs' Association.

The weeklong event is a platform for meetings of the NSA Board of Directors, state association leadership, and committees on various law enforcement interests. Johnson said Babeu, whom the NSA named its Sheriff of the Year for 2011, is on the committee for immigration and border security.