Lee County Commissioners discuss LCSO Budget and Sheriff Marceno federal investigation

In light of recent investigations into Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, a Lee County Commissioner proposed a change at Tuesday’s commissioner’s meeting that would separate the county budget from the sheriff’s.

This potential change is a long way from being implemented because it isn’t necessarily a proposal, but more like the beginning steps of one.

Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman led the conversation Tuesday morning at the commissioner’s meeting. Hamman suggested that the Sheriff’s office become its own taxing unit.

“My idea is that we could look at the Sheriff’s Office and put it on its own line item on a tax bill. To do that, we’d have to create basically a law enforcement, municipal services taxing unit,” Hamman said during the meeting.

He used three words to describe what he calls, a positive change: transparency, fairness, and accountability.

“It’s about transparency, and it’s also about fairness, making sure that other county departments don’t have to compete against law enforcement for funding,” Hamman said.

This move comes after allegations of potential money laundering involving the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Marceno were brought to light last month.

Right now, the Sheriff’s Office gets about $315 million out of the $700 million from the general fund budget. Commissioner Hamman spoke with WINK News Reporter Olivia Jean after he shared his idea.

“Why now? What prompted your desire for change?” Jean asked.

“I think it’s obviously, people are keenly aware of the sheriff’s budget right now. I get a lot of questions from members of the public asking about different expenditures. Sometimes, they ask about names on cars or things like that,” Hamman said.

Hamman went on to say, “I think it’s important for them to be able to see how much money they are dedicating towards law enforcement, and then be able to ask those questions during a budget hearing where we would look at that specific budget.”

This move would separate the county and the sheriff’s budget.

Tuesday morning, commissioners reacted to both the new idea and the recent allegations against the sheriff’s office.

“I know everyone wants to respond based on what’s going on with the big elephant in the room. The grand jury is going to be convened for 10 days and we’re not going to know anything for a few weeks,” Sometimes, it’s best to wait to see what’s happening,” Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said.

“There’s a lot of conversations that are going on, a lot of speculation. I try to deal with fact. I try to deal with, you know, you know that, and not with conjecture. There’s a lot of conjecture out there at the moment, so I support the idea of having a concept,” Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane said.

Others reacted during public comment and called out Lee County staff for not doing enough about the federal investigation against LSCO.

“I suspect that there are reasons why audits and investigations do not occur in this county the way that they should. If you are going to lead our county with integrity, then I am asking you to please conduct investigations appropriately,” One speaker said.

Another said, “Myself and many others have requested forensic audits to determine whether our tax dollars are being managed appropriately. We have been faced with pushback from many elected officials. Please bring in an outside, investigated auditor and ease our concerns.”

If this change is approved, there is a possibility that taxes could increase.

This item will now head to a strategic planning meeting where county staff can put together a study and more details.

On Tuesday, LSCO told WINK News that they will continue to work with county commissioners, but did not say if they supported this potential change.