Hoffman emphasizes need for expansion of headquarters as he talks of forgoing new staff to help with county financial worries
On Feb. 26, when the Sarasota County Commission conducted its first budget workshop for the 2027 fiscal year, Sheriff Kurt A. Hoffman was one of only two county constitutional officers to tell the board members that he could keep his increase to no more than 1.6%, compared to his budget for the current fiscal year.
The commissioners set the 1.6% mark as the maximum uptick they wanted to see in the General Fund budget for the next fiscal year, which will begin on Oct. 1. Already, they were concerned about potential state legislative action that could reduce property tax revenue in upcoming years. The General Fund is the primary repository for the annual property tax revenue. It covers the expenses of all departments and county constitutional offices — such as the sheriff and the supervisor of elections — whose operations do not generate sufficient income on their own — or, in many cases, no income — to cover their annual costs.
On June 16, as the commissioners conducted the first of two workshops this week on details of the FY 2027 county budget, Hoffman pointed out that, in fact, he and his staff had been able to create a budget with an increase “just a tad bit under 1.6[%],” at 1.5%.
“We’re happy that we could help the county in this regard,” Hoffman added, referencing the Legislature’s vote two weeks ago to place a property tax referendum on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.
The money for his agency not only comes out of the General Fund, but it represents the largest single line item in that fund. For the 2027 fiscal year, the preliminary Sheriff’s Office figure is $224,471,941, a county slide said. The total, preliminary General Fund budget for FY 2027 is $509,426,222, a chart noted.
Hoffman did remind the board members that the Sheriff’s Office had halted plans to add another 14 or 15 full-time employees in the next fiscal year, in an effort to reduce the agency’s budget.
As part of his opening remarks, Hoffman also provided updates on several topics that he had addressed during the Feb. 26 workshop, explaining that he had received more information since then.
For example, he told the commissioners, with all of the necessary data in hand for 2025, he could report that violent crime in the county was down a total of 67% since 2009. The latter year, he noted, was when then-Sheriff Tom Knight — now a member of the County Commission — implemented what is called “Intelligence-Led Policing.”
“And we’ve added to that in a variety of ways,” Hoffman continued, noting the work of special units, including “the narcotics enforcement teams that go into the neighborhoods …”
Hoffman did report that the number of economic crimes continues to rise, but, thanks to commission approval last year, he was able to add another full-time employee to focus on that issue.
Moreover, he pointed out, “We are still the third safest county” of the 22 in the state with more than 250,000 residents.
“We have a little bit of room to gain on St. John’s County,” which is No. 2, he added, and Collier County, which is No. 1.
Then he reminded the board members that, in February, he reported that the Sheriff’s Office’s ratio of deputies to county residents was 1:20; it has increased to 1:28. “The state average,” he said, “is 1:65.”
“We are still the lowest deputy-to-citizen ratio,” when compared to the five similar counties by population count: Escambia, Manatee, Brevard, Seminole and Volusia. Yet, he added, Sarasota County has the second highest population in its unincorporated area, in comparison again to those other counties.
He also pointed out that he had reviewed the deputy-to-resident ratios for all 67 counties, as provided by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. “We rank 55th,” Hoffman emphasized.
Moreover, Hoffman noted, his agency has the lowest number of command staff members, compared to the counts for the sheriff’s offices in the five other counties similar to Sarasota in population counts.
The planned expansion of the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters
During a review of various budget-related issues before the sheriff began his June 16 presentation, Steve Botelho, deputy county administrator and chief financial management officer, noted slides that listed all of the active Capital Improvement Program projects, with those shown in bold that still are in the design phase.
Since shortly after his 2024 election, Commissioner Knight has expressed concern about continuing with initiatives that could be halted, given their status relative to completion. He has noted that he and his fellow board members have to focus not just on project expenses but also the operating costs of new facilities.
One of the items on Botelho’s list was the expansion of the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters, which stands on Cattleridge Road in Sarasota. That is just in the design phase, Botelho pointed out. (See the related article in this issue.)
Turning to that topic during his June 16 presentation, Sheriff Hoffman first noted that he and his staff had cut $4.5 million out of the agency’s proposed budget for FY 2027 to meet the board request to keep any increase to no more than 1.6%.
Then he pointed out of the work on the headquarters expansion, “We’re approaching $5 million already invested in that [initiative], and we’re a few months away from breaking ground.”
He showed the commissioners a copy of a report produced for the Sheriff’s Office in 2012 — when Knight was still sheriff. It contained a full report on a space utilization study that a firm called AGD had undertaken for the Sheriff’s Office. That study cost about $80,000, Hoffman added.
“We’ve been working on this [space issue] for 14 years,” he continued.
Then he told the commissioners that, when the board members seated at the time were working on a referendum for the latest iteration of the county’s Surtax program, Surtax 4 — which entails a voter-approved additional penny of sales tax to fund infrastructure — he “played a large part” in commercials and other advertising that encouraged citizens to support the extension of the program for the period of 2025 through 2039.
(The Surtax Program first won voter approval in 1989, a county document notes.)
Seventy-eight percent of the county voters who marked the question on their ballots in 2022 ended up approving the Surtax 4 program, he stressed, and the headquarters expansion was on the list.
That was the greatest margin of support for a Surtax program in the state, Hoffman added.
Knight asked whether Hoffman has an estimate for the additional operating expenses the county would need to shoulder after that expansion has been completed.
Hoffman replied that he did not believe the agency would need any more full-time employees to staff the facility. All of the Sheriff’s Office employees who are continuing to work in the former headquarters on Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota will move to the Cattleridge Boulevard building, he added, noting the synergies among staff members that the agency experienced when personnel moved into the latter structure after the county purchased it and renovated it for the use of the Sheriff’s Office.
“I don’t think it’s going to be terribly more than what the county is predicting,” Hoffman continued of the operating expenses. For example, he said, he believes the Sheriff’s Office will not have much need for new furniture.
Before Hoffman and his chief deputy, Col. Brian Woodring, left, Commissioner Joe Neunder told them that he wanted to offer his appreciation once more for their keeping their FY 2027 budget within the percentage of increase that the board had requested.
“Thank you for really, really working for us,” Neunder said. “You’re really, really part of this process. … It’s a lot of number crunching.”
Then Neunder alluded to the state property tax referendum on the November General Election ballot: “Our future is currently uncertain.”
Hoffman responded that Woodring already is working on budget planning for the 2028 fiscal year, to try to keep costs down.
Commissioner Teresa Mast also expressed her appreciation to the sheriff and Woodring.
“I want to be mindful [of] what I would call those ‘deep cuts,’ ” she said in regard to what she characterized as his “being a team player.”
Noting the continuing growth of the county’s population, Mast pointed to the ratio of deputies to residents, saying she wanted to keep that in mind, as well.
Referring to the Sheriff’s Office personnel, Mast added, “They’re taking risks the rest of us don’t take. … It’s very important that we keep you guys safe.”
“We understand the situation we’re in,” Hoffman replied.
Nonetheless, he indicated that he and his command staff do contend with challenges in pulling officers from other areas to deal with special situations, such as “when you have these teen takeover things” and need 35 deputies at once on Siesta Key.
He was referencing a situation in which teens contact each other through social media to convene a large gathering in a certain location at a specific time.
The year-long initiative to shut down illegal gambling operations in the countyalso required the focus of extra personnel, Hoffman pointed out, as does the agency’s efforts to halt work of unlicensed contractors.