Sheriff’s remodel request to be discussed at upcoming workshop

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Posted February 1, 2022 | By Matthew Cretul
matthew@ocalagazette.com

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods’ request for unspent funds from prior budget years to be used on a remodel and expansion of the Sheriff’s Operations building will be discussed as part of an upcoming Capital Improvement Project Workshop on Monday, March 21.

In April of last year, the MCBOCC approved shifting $2.1 million in unspent money from the 2019-2020 fiscal year that Woods’ office returned to the commission’s general fund, but was earmarked for future improvements to the sheriff’s campus.

The path to the workshop began with a Dec. 23 letter to MCBOCC Chair Cark Zalak III, where Woods requested $1,098,486 from the MSTU budget, $987,062 from the county-wide budget, and remaining funds collected as part of the one-cent sales tax in order to fund the projects.

In the letter, Woods stated “Working with County Facilities Management Director, Jared Goodspeed, it has been determined that the entire project will cost an estimated $5.2 million.  Simply put, we have outgrown our existing office space and the remodeling needs to address issues which will help the layout of the building become more efficient.”

Woods also signaled in his letter that the funds were originally part of the fiscal year 2019-2020 year-end turnback monies he returned to the county, and “In a letter dated November 2020, when I returned year-end monies, I asked for the use of those funds for this purpose…and as far as I know, this was approved, and the monies were set aside,” he wrote.

The requested projects include remodeling and updating the Sheriff’s Office Complex and Main Operations Building, parking areas, Fleet Maintenance Building, and additional storage areas.

The plan, according to Paul Bloom, a spokesman with MCSO, is to move the Major Crimes Division and the IT Department into an area currently used by Evidence and the Crime Scene Section. The Evidence and the Crime Scene Section would be moved into a new, already constructed building on the MCSO campus.

Bloom said the original Operations Building was constructed in 1988 utilizing inmate labor and has seen only minimal updates since that time.

He pointed to cables and computer wires being run beneath hollow portions of flooring, storage rooms turned into offices, and portable buildings or “portables” typically utilized in classroom settings being used as building additions as examples of how MCSO has had to adapt to the growth of their office from an original staff of between 300-350 employees in 1988 to the 900+ employees currently working for MCSO.

Jared Goodspeed, Facilities Management director for Marion County, said the initial conversation started a few years ago regarding updates to MCSO buildings, but with Marion County, and MCSO, developing at the rate they have, the workshop on the proposed renovations becomes even more timely.

“I think the original time we talked about this was in 2018 when [MCSO] requested an expansion or remodel of their operations area on a much smaller scale. And now, obviously, we’ve had a boom, we’ve had some growth,” he said. “Now his team has outgrown their space, and there are some functional workgroups that aren’t working.  We’ve gotten by previously by putting people in certain rooms that might not be where they need to be in order to be efficient, so this is really a change of ‘his capacity is limited, and then there’s also some inefficiencies he’s trying to correct’ and this is the time to look at it.”

County administrator Mounir Bouyounes indicated at the Jan. 4 MCBOCC meeting that while the turnback money Woods returned would fund part of the remainder of the $5.2 project, “Once you go beyond the $2 million, you’ve got to take the money from somewhere else”.

At the Jan. 4 MCBOCC meeting, Zalak expressed hesitation over the idea of building anything with constriction costs rapidly rising.

“Besides the sheriff’s conversation here today, I really believe that if we don’t need to build it, we should not build in this market,” Zalak said.  He indicated funds might be better used to build during a recession, because not only are the costs lower, but the projects would help produce jobs.

Zalak also believed the current request is part of a larger conversation involving the MCBOCC and MCSO regarding the multiple building projects either underway or projected.

Goodspeed agreed and said the planned upcoming joint meeting will be a good opportunity for everyone to gain an understanding of where the current project fits as it related to the bigger picture, and to get everyone on the same page moving forward.

“I think the workshop is going to be a great time to talk about everything we’re doing for the sheriff, not just the operations center, but we’re building a hangar, there are some other things that we’re doing too,” Goodspeed said.  “Are there any fiscally responsible activities we can do, any more efficiencies we can gain by maybe combining some of the projects or looking at it holistically?  So I think it will be a good time for the commissioners to understand exactly what Billy Woods’ expansion is or his projection on what his team is going to expand into, and then what we’re going to need to supply him in order for him to do what he wants to do.”

Woods agreed.

“That’s what’s great about workshops. They’re going to ask me questions, I’m going to give them answers. And I’m going to tell them why, not only do we have to build and remodel for what we have currently, but we have to plan for the future too. Because there’s growth that’s going on, not just in our county, but it’s going through the entire state of Florida,” Woods said.

He understands the board will ask about certain issues, but he said that’s exactly what they should be doing.

“The commissioners have got their questions. And commissioners should have questions of what I present to them, or any sheriff, or any other constitutional officer,” Woods said.

He also said the county, and Goodspeed in particular, has been a great working partner to this point.

Woods said even though there’s a perception of friction between him and the board, that’s not how it is at all, even when they argue.

“We have the best commissioners there are throughout this entire state.  We do get along- contrary to what people think,” Woods said.

Woods described his relationship with the board as one similar to siblings, and even though they may disagree, “At the end of the day, they’re your brother or your sister. And that’s the way I see my county commissioners. We work together.”

Regardless of where the funds come from and if they involve remodels or new buildings, said Goodspeed, it’s the county’s job to make sure they are spending funds efficiently.

“It comes down to ‘we’re getting the money from the taxpayers, one way or another, whether it’s a sales tax, or whether it’s property tax, right?’ And it’s really one of our high-level jobs to say ‘what can we do today to relieve that burden?’,” he said.  “So we’re looking at a process right now, where we have aged buildings, we have buildings that were built in the 1960s, the 1970s.  Is the right method to continue to maintain those buildings, or is it time to have a discussion to say, ‘shall we centralize, and what does that cost look like? Is there a reduction of taxpayers’ dollars in 20 or 30 years?’ And if that’s a huge Delta, that might be a decision we need to make today. If not, then we continue with the information we have today.”

When the workshop was requested at the Jan. 4^th MCBOCC meeting, Curry asked if the decision ran counter to previous board actions on the subject of turnback monies.  Commissioner Kathy Bryant relayed that in the past, constitutional officers who requested turnback funds be put toward specific projects generally had their requests granted.  However, in an attempt to be more transparent and follow more of a process, the board has moved to scheduling workshops.

During that same meeting, the board directed staff to look into updating their policy on funds balance transfers.  As a result of the request, Bouyounes submitted an agenda item for the Feb. 1 MCBOCC regular meeting with the updated policy.

According to Bouyounes’ agenda request regarding the policy update,

“Constitutional Officers have routinely requested and been granted unexpended turnback funds from the prior fiscal year to be used during the following fiscal year. To better meet the County’s current and future fiscal and budgetary needs, the attached revised Fund Balance Policy will end this routine practice.”

Bouyounes wrote in his description of the updated policy,

“The revision requires unexpended allocated end-of-year turnback funds to remain in the fund balance and not be turned back. Future allocation of these funds will be done through the standard budget process.”

The decision to amend their policy also comes on the heels of a Florida Supreme Court ruling in favor of the Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (ACBOCC) against Alachua County Sheriff Clovis Watson, Jr. in a lawsuit filed in 2017.

In the Jan. 27, 2022 order, the court found the legislation to be clear that budget transfers between the broadest categories within the sheriff’s budget, for example, “general law enforcement” to “corrections and detention alternative facilities” without the approval of the county board through a defined budget process by the sheriff would be wrong.

The CIP workshop is currently set to begin at 2:00 p.m on Mar. 21 and will be held in the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium.  The MCBOCC will meet for their next regular meeting on Feb. 1 at 9:00 a.m., also in the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium.