www.dadeinfo.com

Since I can't copy and paste the "Fluffer" (Independant) only can only get the Daily dose of it (Discover Dade) I will post that!

Dade County Sheriff Patrick Cannon presented the Commission with concerns of the budget cuts. He said that his department has worked hard to cut their budget the 4.4% that the Commission requested, but he warns that officers are leaving Dade County and going to places like Walker County where they can make an additional $1 more an hour. He's also losing employees to TVA and to the Alabama Highway Patrol. "They've got to feed their families too." He said he understands the budget needs and he is a team player, but the cost to retrain new officers is also high. He said that the State is passing their budget crunch down to the counties causing the counties to have to take up the slack and he and the other 158 sheriffs of the State of Georgia are going to stand up and he urged the Commission to do the same stating, "This has to stop!"

Now I have discussed this issue with several people already about cutting the budget on the Sheriff's Dept. I came to remember a Sheriff who was elected the same year who complained about the same thing and wanted to raise the budget and even threated to SUE the County over it, and now is running for another office, want's to cut this years budget...




Sheriff Gobble Files Suit On Budget "Shortfall"; County Mayor Calls It "Sad Day"
posted July 31, 2007

Bradley County Sheriff Tim Gobble on Tuesday filed suit to try to get additional funds for the sheriff's department.

The sheriff had gone before the Bradley County Commission, saying the office was woefully underfunded and needed $4.5 million more.

The commission declined his full request, but gave a $750,000 increase.

The case is presently assigned to Judge John Hagler.

Bradley County Mayor Gary Davis called the filing of the suit "a very sad day."

He said, "Approximately a year ago, Sheriff Tim Gobble was elected by the citizens of Bradley County. The position of Sheriff is a position of great responsibility. One of those is a fiscal responsibility. The Sheriff must be a steward of the monies of the people of Bradley County. This year the Bradley County Commission voted to give the Sheriff the largest budget increase of any agency. Approximately three quarters of a million dollars of additional funds was provided for the Sheriff to operate his offices. The Sheriff’s budgets are approximately 12 million dollars. The Commission has decided that these funds are sufficient to operate a good Sheriff’s Department. In the past we have had an award winning Sheriff’s Department and each of the deputies who provide services to our community should know that with a budget as large as Sheriff Gobble’s, much could be accomplished. This lawsuit names me as a defendant because I have a duty to defend the Bradley County Commission and the people of Bradley County. I will make certain that a vigorous defense is presented and a decision will be left to the court based on the evidence which is provided. Whatever the result of this lawsuit, I will work diligently to ensure that the integrity of the legislative process is upheld. This is a lawsuit which is actually against the people of Bradley County who elected Sheriff Gobble and it is the people of Bradley County who will pay for this litigation.

"As a candidate, Sheriff Gobble insisted on fiscal responsibility and pledged to bring it to the office if elected. The election is over and the people will decide whether his words had meaning when spoken or were just campaign talk."

Sheriff Gobble said:

"Today on behalf of the citizens of Bradley County in an effort to help ensure quality law enforcement and public safety in our community, I have petitioned the Circuit Court of Bradley County as required under TCA § 8-20-101 for decisions regarding the BCSO 2007-2008 budget requests that were previously denied by the Bradley County Commission.

"The Tennessee Legislature has recognized the historical reluctance of county commissions across the State to fund sheriff’s offices adequately to meet statutory obligations and compensate personnel at the level needed to properly attract and retain them. As such, the legislature, in its wisdom, provided sheriff’s with specific legal requirements under the law to determine their budget and properly address the number one responsibility of government, the safety and security of citizens.

"According to Tennessee Code Annotated § 8-20-101 the county sheriff has two options through which he may obtain authority to employ and compensate personnel to assist him to properly and efficiently conduct the affairs and transact the business of his office. The sheriff may either file a salary petition with the court, or, if the sheriff and the county executive agree on the number of deputies and the assistants to be employed and the salary to be paid to them, a letter of agreement may be prepared and submitted to the court for approval.

"The sheriff must file a salary petition with the court or enter into a letter of agreement. According to the law, doing nothing is not an option and both provisions require the court to be involved.

"I want the citizens of Bradley County to understand that as sheriff, I cannot in good conscience agree to a budget that places the salary of our deputies over 22% behind the regional average for law enforcement agencies of similar size and responsibility and over $5000 per year behind the average pay of their Cleveland Police counterparts. By closing or significantly reducing this pay and benefits gap we will actually save taxpayer money in the long term by reducing new hire cost, re-training cost, re-equipping cost, and retaining the valuable experience necessary to better deter, prevent and solve crime.

"As sheriff, I cannot in good conscience agree to a budget that requires my deputies to drive emergency response vehicles that have over 200,000 miles on them. This level of mileage and the deteriorating condition of the vehicles jeopardizes the safety of our deputies and detracts from their ability to reliably respond and protect citizens. It also creates a significant liability on the part of the county if a citizen, inmate, or deputy is injured in or by one of these high-mileage, unsafe vehicles.

"As sheriff, I cannot in good conscience agree to a budget that does not properly provide the number of assistants needed to meet our statutory obligations of keeping the peace, investigating crime, protecting the courts, serving criminal and civil process and operating the jail. Numerous independent studies, assessments and reports clearly document and confirm the understaffing currently experienced by the BCSO in several critical statutory areas.

"Since the beginning of the budget process I have continually asked and pleaded with the mayor and commission to work with us to find reasonable solutions to these legitimate needs. So far, they have refused to do so. I now have no other alternative but to follow the law and petition a court on behalf of the citizens of Bradley County for decisions on these matters.

"I cannot just ignore for political expediency what the law requires of me. I have a duty to properly provide for the safety and security of Bradley County citizens and we as a community have a duty to properly support those who risk their lives and well-being on a daily basis to keep this community safe.

"I ask for your support in this process."

Sincerely,

Tim Gobble
Sheriff


Past and Now....


Sheriff Gobble: Holding The Line Of Spending
posted June 3, 2010

Since becoming sheriff, I have tried to be a good steward of taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Through better management, fiscal responsibility and a more practical application of funds, the BCSO has returned approximately $700,000 in unspent budgeted money since 2006, which was in turn paid back to the county’s general fund. We have been able to continue that trend of fiscal responsibility for the upcoming budget year.

Our fiscal budget for 2011 will cut spending by $600,000 over the current budget in order to help avoid the need for a tax increase. I worked closely with my command staff and budget director to identify areas where we could realistically cut spending for a one-year period without sacrificing services or compromising public safety. It was a challenge and not something we can sustain for an extended period, but we did it.

During tough economic times, the character of a community is revealed by how well adversity is handled. I am confident the high character of Bradley County will win out over the economic challenges we face as a community.

Here at the sheriff’s office, we should be able to sustain the coming budget cuts for one year without a reduction in services primarily because of the improvements we have made over the last four years. Through better management of resources and sound fiscal planning, we have been able to improve vehicles and equipment, as well as upgrade deputies starting salaries to the point that the proposed cuts should not adversely affect law enforcement services or emergency response times. All current BCSO positions are included in our new budget with no reduction in salaries.

We here at the BCSO have consistently operated within our means and without the necessity of imposing tax increases. Each year, we bring in approximately $4.2 million in operating revenue and $500,000 in drug-related asset forfeitures. Also, our inmate work program saves the county approximately $1 million in expenses that would have normally been budgeted if the inmates were not helping out. These monies either off-set BCSO and/or county’s expenses, or are returned to the county’s general fund balance.

As sheriff, I am proud there has been no need for a tax increase to sustain our operations and that every year we have returned money from our balanced budgets to the taxpayers. We will have to tighten our belts to meet next year’s budget, but we are all happy to help hold the line on taxes and still maintain a safe environment in which to live and work.

Notice the amount cut is the about same amount the Commission gave him in his First Term..... So when is cutting the Budget the same as adding to the Budget? About election time or wanting to "GRANDSTAND" like the "Fluffer" has a picture of the Sheriff talking to the Commission about the Budget.... Alot of Hot Air if you ask me...

I think we all are SMART enough to "FIGURE" out for ourselves that this is tough times. We don't need Grandstanding to tell us that the Hard Working Folks all need a RAISE. That is the last tax increase we had to cover the raises. The fact is when this Sheriff took office, I remember them getting up to scale and then the tax increase to cover raises. I know and respect alot of these Deputies and feel they do need more money paid to them but till the taxpayers demand wasteful spending to end and demand another way to bring REVENUE in this County... "It is what it is"!

I will agree that we lose some good deputies and others to other Counties, City's and even the TVA. But in the other "Real World" of non-goverment offices, don't they lose employees just the same? So it's not like the Sheriff's Office is the ONLY employer that loses employees to another company because of "Pay Scale"... It Happens!

I will be the first to admit that I don't have the answer to the problem other than another form of Revenue for the County to Budget in Raises. It's tough on everone right now. And I don't need to "Grandstand" with the "Fluffer" putting my picture out there and writing an article about how tough it is. I think we all KNOW THAT!

Why does he need deputies? There was only one true bill indictment in the last session of the grand jury. Dade County evidently doesn't have enough crime to warrant having so much law enforcement. OR, they're not catching anybody and prosecuting them. He has a major morale problem with his staff and it's not just about money.

Also, we didn't increase the millage rate in the 4 years I was in office so I'm not sure what tax increase you're referring to. In 3 years the county took in an incremental $15K TOTAL in property taxes. We used the reserve as long as we could till it ran out before the county wide revaluation was done. If you'll recall I advised rolling back to the rollback rate and predicted in August of 3006 that we'd be out of money by mid 2007 if they took Lamar's advice and "not collect one penny more" after the reval. He was running for reelection. I lost that round on a 4-1 vote, we went to the rollback rate and the budget the other commissioners came up with instead of the one I submitted and sure enough we ran out of money mid July 2007. Go ask Don Townsend, he remembers vividly.

He has a major morale problem with his staff and it's not just about money.

We can agree on that one because I myself have spoken to those on this issue. You have to lead by example is the biggest issue he has.

With the re-value of property and by not lowering the millage rate it did cost the taxpayers more money. It was said by you that it would give the county employees a raise and the rest to be used as a New Reserve. You can call it not a tax increase if you want but we all know that you won that vote even if Lamar and Sarah jumped ship because of the outcry from citizens while you were on Vacation during that meeting.

I think David can remember it well...lol...lol... After all he was the "Swing Vote"! He remembers THAT VIVIDLY!....lol...lol... No Hard feeling David, because without that vote this county would be in alot more trouble than it is now.

I had to laugh when I seen that "BOTH" media outlets had a picture of the Sheriff. I guess it was like a "Bigfoot" siteing and they just wanted to be part of "History"...lol...lol...lol...

Rex,
I'm not sure what you're talking about because the commission did vote to go to the rollback rate that year. It was 2006 and Lamar was running on his "not one penny more" platform and it was passed by the commission. We can go look it up if you like and exactly what I said would happen, did. Would we have collected more money, yes. But since the county had only collected a total of $15,000 over the previous 3 years it's not like we didn't need the money. Inflation makes everything cost more. They also had fired Larry Cooper and refused to use the budget I submitted and went with the one Don did instead. Also, as I predicted, we ran out of money in July 2007 within two weeks of the date I predicted. Go ask Don if he remembers that day. I think it was a real epiphany for him as well. He discovered at that moment that I wasn't the idiot he'd been told I was. We can go pull the transcripts of the meetings and the votes taken if you need to verify this but I still have my notes and recordings of every meeting so I'm very confident of my recollection.

Ben, I CLEARLY remember the night that TAXES WERE RAISED on your watch. I remember that by a vote of 3-2 with Scottie and David and yourself increasing taxes. Sarah and Lamar had however changed their votes after people showed up at the meetings raising heck about the 45% increase that was being voted on. I have asked David to do the re-search because he also has the paperwork to show that taxes were raised. I would do the re-search but with the quality of media and the way it is, I can't find all the articles on the event. I have LONG since thrown away my paperwork because it being an issue that wasn't changed and never will be.

I remember a 3-2 vote on the budget but not on the millage rate. This is easy to check because the history of the millage rate should be online someplace. If I'm wrong I'll apologize but I don't remember it.

I think you are right about the raising the budget, but I also remember it costing taxpayers more money.

Just because the budget went up does not mean the millage/tax rate did. We definitely gave employees a raise in 2005 because we were so far away from the salary midpoint from what every other county our size paid for comparable positions. I also included more money to replace the rolling junk pile of cars the sheriff inherited and tried to get them on a regular replacement schedule. I succeeded in the road dept but not for the sheriff. The raise and vehicle purchases/leases came out of the fund balance (savings). The plan was to do the reval, cut the millage rate but not all the way back to the rollback rate and replenish the fund balanace. Firing Larry Cooper, Lamar's "not a penny more" pledge and not using my budget torpedoed that plan.

Unless you've cut completly to the bone or make structural changes you will typically always have more expense in every department year over year because of inflation. This is simple economic supply and demand. I tried to make the argument that government should not increase faster than poplulation growth plus inflation. The first two years I was in office, when I did the budget and recommended the millage rate we had the second or third lowest county millage rate in the state. Only Walker's and one other county I believe were lower as I recall.