Sheriff on budget: Not every city department is created equal

Rutherford asks finance committee to restore $4.4M to JSO

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sheriff John Rutherford summed up the budget cuts issue like this: "We're talking about life and limb."

Rutherford took the podium again Tuesday, pleading with Jacksonville's finance committee to restore $4.4 million to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office budget for the sake of public safety. The City Council must vote on the budget by the end of the month.

Rutherford told finance committee members that every department isn't created equal in the city, and he says the 2 percent across-the-board budget cuts will only effect the people of Jacksonville in a negative way, residents who are already concerned about violent crime.

"There should be priorities, and public safety should be a priority in this community," Rutherford said. "And a 2 percent cut across the board is not a priority."

Rutherford wants council members to find a way to restore the money to JSO, even it means dipping into the city's reserves or using one-time money, something council members have been adamantly opposed to.

"You've got to have enough officers out there to conduct investigations, you've got to have officers to get these shooters before they kill somebody," Rutherford said. "There are major drug investigations, which take a lot of manpower."

The sheriff said he doesn't want to close the city's drug treatment center and points to some statistics of working officers. He said in 2003, when he was hired, there were 1,603 officers on the streets. That number jumped to 1,750 in 2007, and Rutherford said crime went down.

Now, JSO employs about 1,600 officers. Rutherford said the city can't afford to lose anymore.

"I think there will be some strong interest in fulfilling the sheriff's financial hole," Councilman Matt Schellenberg said.

So what are the options?

"Right now I don't think there are that many at this time," Schellenberg said.

He said the only real option is dipping into the city's reserve funds of $104 million, but council members already voted not to touch that money. They may be forced to go against their fiscal principles.

"I think because of the deadlines, we just took an arbitrary 2 percent cut across the board," Schellenberg said.

The finance committee also talked on Tuesday about the future of Jacksonville's soccer team, the Armada, and the $1 million it needs to convert the baseball field into a soccer field. The committee will take up the issue and the sheriff's proposal at its meeting Sept. 23.


About the Author:

Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.