The sheriff and the county commission are heading for a showdown.
After the county commission voted to move forward with a budget that will require the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to trim roughly $500,000 from its budget Tuesday, Sheriff Sadie Darnell is preparing to appeal the vote to the governor and the cabinet.
“I believe when I make my appeal to the governor and the cabinet, they will see that this county commission is not funding basic services first,” she said.
The vote was 3-1 with Alachua County Commissioner Lee Pinkoson casting the dissenting vote.
Darnell submitted the ACSO’s original budget in May and said she originally made $1.1 million in cuts and was within her allotted budget.
With the county asking her to cut another $500,000 from the budget, Darnell believes the ACSO has reached its breaking point.
“I’m down to bare bones,” she said.
Commission Chairwoman Cynthia Moore Chestnut said she believes it is possible for Darnell to make the necessary cuts.
“It’s a matter of priorities,” she said. “As 38 percent of the budget, $65 million, we believe she can find $500,000.”
Chestnut said she would be glad to sit down with the sheriff and go line by line through the budget to identify areas that can possibly be cut.
But Darnell said she just doesn’t believe it’s possible and that the county commission doesn’t have their priorities in order.
“They’re basically saying ‘Too bad, we’ve got our programs that we believe are more important than public safety,’” she said.
Now she’s preparing to take it all the way to Tallahassee, and she’s confident that the governor will side with her.
