Other board members put emphasis on spending limitations in future fiscal years
As the former county sheriff, Sarasota County Commissioner Tom Knight made several attempts this week to engage his board colleagues in a discussion about lowering the Sheriff’s Office budget even more for the 2026 fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman — who succeeded Knight as chief of the agency — sent County Administrator Jonathan Lewis an email on July 9, saying he could reduce his FY 2026 proposal by $2,401,797.
The preliminary budget that Hoffman and his senior staff presented to the commissioners on July 2, during the board’s two days of intensive budget workshops, totaled $225,451,927.
No representative of the Sheriff’s Office was present for the Aug. 19 County Commission budget workshop.
However, while the other board members indicated their willingness to impose a ceiling for that agency and other constitutional officers’ departments in the future, none of them was agreeable to reducing the Sheriff’s Office budget beyond the $2.4 million that Hoffman had proposed in advance of the workshop this week. (See the related article in this issue.)
“Going forward,” Commissioner Ron Cutsinger said, “we’ve been very, very clear about where we are. Public safety is probably our core responsibility as a board,” he added, but the commission cannot keep approving what he characterized as unsustainable rate increases.
Commissioner Teresa Mast pointed out that she did not believe any member of the board would suggest a lack of support for “our first responders.”
She added, “Although I’m not happy about the amount that’s being requested, I’m happy to support [it] with the caveat that we are going to have very strong conversations next year early on that set much clearer boundaries, in my opinion, and what can be expected.”
The commissioners voted unanimously during the workshop to hold a session with all of the county’s constitutional officers in February 2026, to make clear the commissioners’ intent to reduce spending increases in future budgets.
Moreover, Mast emphasized that the Sheriff’s Office operates the jail and Animal Services, and it is responsible for the 911 communications for every fire department and almost every law enforcement agency of the municipalities in the county. The Sheriff’s Office, Mast reminded her colleagues, “very easily could hand [those] back over to us. … I don’t want to be responsible for the jail. I don’t want to be responsible for Animal Control.”
Commissioner Mark Smith said, “I don’t feel comfortable with the sheriff not here [to offer comments on such a proposal], because I think that would set us up for adopting the jail and the [other responsibilities], because … that’s what I would do if I were in his shoes.”
Smith concurred with Mast about the tone the board has set for the discussions in February 2026.
Smith added, “I hear you, Commissioner Knight, [but] I’m not capable of just arbitrarily cutting [Sheriff Hoffman’s] budget without discussion. I believe he’s doing what he believes is best for public safety.”
Chair Neunder did note, “Our sheriff has had some pretty rather significant increases [in his budget over the past couple of years].” Yet, Neunder said, “We all want to support public safety.”
Still, Knight pointed to information that staff provided on Aug. 19 about the decision that the Manatee County Commission made in regard to that county’s Sheriff’s Office. Kim Radtke, director of the Sarasota County Office of Financial Management, noted that the Manatee commissioners had asked the Manatee Sheriff’s Office to seek no more than a 3% increase for the 2026 fiscal year, “which equated to $8.5 million.”
Sarasota County Sheriff Hoffman initially had asked for a hike of approximately 12%.
“I did public safety for 12 years,” Knight pointed out, referring to the three terms he served as sheriff, ending in 2020.
He expressed his disappointment that no one was present from the Sheriff’s Office to discuss the budget with the board members.
Referencing Mast’s remarks, Knight continued, “I can assure you running a jail is easy; running Animal Services is easy, but we don’t want to get into all of that.”
As he did at various times during the Aug. 19 workshop, Knight voiced concern about the county’s having to draw money from its Economic Uncertainty Reserve fund to balance the 2026 fiscal year budget.
“I love those people over there,” he stressed of the Sheriff’s Office personnel. His focus, he added, is controlling the county’s expenditures. “At the end of the day,” he acknowledged, “it becomes political.”