New patrol vehicles for the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office and upgrades to the Limestone County Jail could be on the way after the Limestone County Commission approved its budget Monday.

Though the sheriff’s office didn’t get everything it requested, they did get most of it, accounting for about 65%, or $9.96 million, of the commission’s general fund budget for fiscal year 2021. That doesn’t include funds in other parts of the budget that will be used for the office, such as $250,000 in public building funds that have been marked for improvements at the county jail, according to county accountant Emily Ezzell.

The initial budget request from LCSO, which included requests for the jail, courthouse security and other departments, was calculated at about $1 million more than its budget for FY 2020. When Deputy Chief Fred Sloss presented the request to commissioners in July, he said LCSO was in dire need of at least eight new patrol vehicles, better equipment for the jail’s kitchen and new air conditioning units for the jail.

He also requested two new deputy sheriffs and a new administrative clerk to help handle growth in the county and the increasing demands on law enforcement which follows that growth.

Commissioners approved $200,000 for vehicles, which will allow for five of the eight vehicles requested, Ezzell said. The aforementioned $250,000 in public building funds will go toward the county jail, but commissioners decided against funding for new employees at this time, she said.

As for other departments in the request, funding remained about the same or decreased due to changes in the amount of benefits paid to former employees.

Coroner

Another notable decrease between last year’s appropriations and this year’s could be found on the coroner’s budget request. Limestone County Coroner Mike West repeated requests for a moveable body cooler and a new truck.

In a statement explaining the request, West said he has not been able to get the cooler yet, and his truck is a hand-me-down from one of the county’s districts that generates negative comments when in the field. He requested $41,700 for the items.

“We have had several negative comments about placing bodies for transport in a ‘pickup truck,’ so we would like to replace it so this does not happen in the future,” West wrote, describing the current truck as a 2003 Ford F-250 with a camper shell and more than 117,000 miles on it.

The budget approved Monday includes a slight increase in funding for salaries and related expenses, but no funding was listed for vehicle acquisition. The total funding approved is listed at $84,816, about 27.5% less than what was requested and a 28.6% decrease from the coroner’s budget for the current fiscal year.

Additional coverage

The News Courier will have additional coverage on the items and departments that make up the Limestone County Commission’s budget in future editions of the newspaper. Visit bit.ly/LimestoneBudget to view a detailed copy of the budget and bit.ly/LimestoneCountyYT to watch previous commission meetings or work sessions, including Monday’s.