Council should prioritize public safety and roads. Increase prioritization of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office can help with both.
The Sheriff has presented Council with figures showing that we are losing deputies to other departments. A strong contributing factor is compensation disparity between county, city, and state opportunities.
My experience with Council is that it is very status quo with the budget.
First, it allows a dynamic where, no matter what Council passes, the Administrator claims (and uses) a privilege to move money around from line to line as he determines appropriate. This isn't my opinion, this is what is practiced and preached to Council continuously. Yet, Council has not taken any action to stop it.
Second, the budget goes virtually unchanged from year to year with the exception of a steady increase in spending. Most of the increases are for cost 3% or so cost of living raises for all County employees. (Council too). The biggest change that brought on the infamous tax increase from several years ago was millions more spent on city buses (Greenlink), land conservation easements (Upstate Forever type), and "Affordable Housing."
Last year, I brought thirty-five or so amendments to the budget and all were disregarded by Council. They were not taken seriously at all. These included eliminating a $150K/yr "government relations" position, discontinuing massive overtime allocations at the landfill, and a stay on elected position raises. Council was not even slightly interested.
I will be asking for more resources to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and public safety. I am also looking for ways that other counties are creating a dedicated percentage of revenues to law enforcement and public safety. Further, because the sheriff is elected every four years, more budget autonomy to the Sheriff that the people elect.
