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 commission 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 toward one.

Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman led the conversation Tuesday morning at the commission 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 Marceno were brought to light last month.

Right now, the sheriff’s office receives about $315 million out of the $700 million general fund budget. After sharing his idea, Hamman spoke with WINK News reporter Olivia Jean.

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

“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” Lee County Commissioner Cecil Pendergrass said. “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.”

“There’s a lot of conversations that are going on, a lot of speculation,” Lee County Commissioner Kevin Ruane said. “I try to deal with fact. I try to deal with, 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.”

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

“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, investigative auditor and ease our concerns.”

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

This item will now be discussed at a strategic planning meeting, where county staff can prepare a study and provide 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.