BUNNELL – Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly won’t be receiving the $700,000 funding for deputy pay raises that he requested from the County Commission. The decision was made Wednesday in a 3-2 decision that saw Chairman Joe Mullins, who was voted out of office on Tuesday, casting the deciding vote.
Staly presented before the Commission last Monday in which he explained his reasoning to request such a large budgetary upgrade. His department has enjoyed substantial budget increases under the present Commission, but still Staly accused the Commissioners of slighting him when they balked at the idea.
“You are de facto defunding the Sheriff’s Office,” Staly said, invoking public opinion on nationwide calls to defund police departments, a movement which gained traction in 2020. He went on to cite the Commissioners’ own campaign material back to them, in which they advocated for fully funded public safety. The Commissioners conceded this point last week, but it didn’t foster the vote Staly was hoping for.
Staly was joined at the meetings by members of his own department, community supporters, and members of deputy unions. The masses often gave him loud affirmation as he made his requests.
The funding all ties into the County millage rate, a tax to property owners on the value of their property. Staly tried to convince the Commissioners to be modest in their reduction of the millage rate, as doing so carved into his Sheriff’s budget. He also requested they exempt his department from any budget cuts that would result from the lost revenue. The Commissioners balked.
Ultimately, Mullins was joined by colleagues Dave Sullivan and Andy Dance in rejecting Stalk’s request, with Greg Hansen and Donald O’Brien dissenting. The millage rate will stay the same, but due to rising property values it will be effectively a 14% tax increase for Flagler County homeowners.
TR
August 27, 2022 at 7:55 pm
I hope that the next time any of the commissioners that vote no gets pulled over they get a ticket and can not talk their way out of it. Especially Mullins
I also hope then when the population grows as much as the county is anticipated with all the developments that they have been approving the people realize that it could take a very long time for a deputy to show up because they are short handed.
Voting no to giving the sheriff a competitor salary for the flagler county deputies is about as stupid as a bag of rocks.
Trailer Bob
August 29, 2022 at 8:44 am
But, but, but…Black Lives Matter…