Sheriff Eric Flowers has asked the governor to order the County Commission to raise our taxes.
That’s not how it reads in the petition he filed last week with the Florida Administrative Commission, which is chaired by Gov. Ron DeSantis and has the authority to increase the nearly $86 million in funding the sheriff has been given for his fiscal 2025-26 budget.
But that’s what’s happening.
“The sheriff is appealing the amount we approved for his budget,” County Commission Chairman Joe Flescher said upon receiving Flowers’ petition seeking more than $5 million in additional funding – on top of the nearly $7 million increase he was given.
“Where does the money come from, if the governor and his cabinet side with him in the appeal?” he added. “I guess we would be forced to tap into our funding reserves.”
And then?
“The sheriff’s budget is a recurring expense, so the only way to cover the cost and recover those funds to replenish our reserves would be to raise taxes,” Flescher said. “We’d have to increase the millage rate next year. That’s our only option. There’s nowhere else to go.”
The local commission voted unanimously last month to retain the county’s millage rate – $3.55 per $1,000 of assessed property value – for the sixth consecutive year, and taxpayers already should have received their Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices in the mail.
State law prohibits counties from increasing millage rates after they’ve been set, which means it’s too late for Flescher and the other commissioners to raise taxes now, regardless of what the governor’s commission decides.
Another alternative, if Flowers’ appeal is successful, would be to make draconian cuts to the county’s nearly $600 million overall budget. But commissioners, along with County Administrator John Titkanich, say the consequences would be unacceptable.
“There’s nothing left to cut,” Flescher said, citing the $2 million-plus Titkanich, at the commission’s direction, whittled out of the county budget in September to increase Flowers’ take from $4.7 million to $6.86 million.
Not only would the county government need to further gut its payroll, but Titkanich said residents would notice reductions in service and project delays – at a time when the community is growing.
“We’re really not in a position to do any of those things,” Commission Vice Chairman Deryl Loar said.
Loar, who served three terms as our sheriff before retiring from law enforcement in 2021 and winning a seat on the commission in 2022, was quick to remind local taxpayers: It wasn’t until this past year that the county’s staffing levels returned to what they were in pre-recession 2007.
The county is also “playing catch-up,” he added, referring to the increasing customer-service demands and both ongoing and planned projects needed to accommodate the surge of newcomers who moved here in the post-COVID years.
“We might be able to implement a hiring freeze – not fill positions that become vacant and rely on attrition for the next 10 months, if necessary – but the people we serve would definitely feel it,” Loar said. “We’re not where we need to be now.
“But if the sheriff gets what he wants, and if we have to come up with another $5 million, freezing positions alone probably wouldn’t cover it,” he added. “We’d have no choice: We’d have to tap into our reserves this year, then raise taxes next year.
“It’s extremely disappointing that he would put us in this position.”
It’s also extremely embarrassing that our sheriff would be so arrogant – so bent on putting his wants above the best interests of the community – that he would resort to distasteful tactics most of us would consider beneath the dignity of his office.
Not only did Flowers file a lawsuit to get one last opportunity to stack the County Commission chamber with loyalists for an additional public hearing on his budget, but he also used the Oct. 20 special-call meeting to launch a take-no-prisoners attack on county brass.
In addressing the commission, Flowers attempted to paint them once again as out of touch and incompetent, bringing up:
- The already-settled controversy surrounding the county comptroller’s allegation that Titkanich gave himself an unauthorized raise in May.
- Titkanich’s expenditure of $34 million on outside consultants during the past two years, even though the embattled administrator – in an interview with Vero Beach 32963 – provided reasonable explanations for why they were necessary.
- The recent resign-or-else departures of both the county’s planning and public works directors within a two-month period, hammering Titkanich for promoting one of them despite a history of DUI-related arrests and providing the employee with an automobile allowance.
Flowers surely knew that none of those issues – including the hiring of consultants, who were paid using money that was not General Fund revenue – had any impact on his budget.
This was all about optics.
This was his closing argument in his unprecedented public campaign for a massive increase in his budget. This was his opening statement to the governor.
Still, it was disturbing to see him cast aside the inconvenient and apparently outdated concept of honor – of being trustworthy, of maintaining confidences.
Early in his presentation, Flowers mentioned Loar’s reign as sheriff and recalled his former boss’ sometimes-unflattering remarks about the commission’s handling of his proposed budgets.
“I used to talk to him about the way the county did things, particularly during the budget process, but I thought our conversations were between us,” said Loar, who groomed and anointed Flowers to be his successor.
“I guess he has forgotten how he got there, but people are taking notice, and my phone has been ringing off the hook,” he added. “The temperature is changing.”
Flowers’ rhetoric certainly turned up the heat in the chamber as our media-savvy sheriff took center stage and stuck with his script. It appeared, though, that he wasn’t alone.
Was it mere coincidence that most of the Sheriff’s Office employees and supporters who followed Flowers to the podium brought with them white, letter-sized pieces of paper? Or that many of those speakers were obviously reading prepared remarks?
The most cringe-worthy aspect of Flowers’ shameful performance, though, was his pathetic – and blatantly dishonest – pandering to the county’s conservative, back-the-blue Republican majority.
It was bad enough when he uttered the phrase “socialized trash pickup” in reference to the commission’s vote last year to include universal solid waste collection in our property taxes.
But he continued with his politically charged rhetoric.
“What next?” Flowers said. “Will this commission tell the public what internet service provider they have to use? What grocery store is a government-approved option?”
Looking to the dais, he added, “Where does your control end, and when will the public’s freedom be ensured?”
Somehow, he managed to stop shy of: “Give me funding or give me death!”
His soliloquy rang hollow, however, given that we haven’t heard him complain even once about the governor issuing politically driven executive orders or Florida Legislature handing down purely partisan, do-not-question mandates to the state’s cities, counties and school districts.
Besides, our commissioners are all registered Republicans who believe in fiscal responsibility and stayed true to their convictions in refusing Flowers’ efforts to increase his budget by a whopping $12.2 million.
They gave him nearly $7 million more this year than last year. They’ve increased his budget by $28.7 million – more than 50 percent – over the past five years. They did not “defund the police,” as Flowers claimed.
But they know the county has other agencies and departments to fund, and other needs to address.
Flowers’ contention that he’s “carrying the weight of our entire community” is bogus. In fact, there’s no evidence that anywhere near a majority of the county is in his corner.
We can only hope the governor and his cabinet aren’t, either.
“This is the first time we’ve been through this, so I don’t know how it’s going to come out,” Flescher said. “We’re dealing with the governor and his cabinet, so we know there’s a strong law-enforcement-first sentiment. But there’s also all this talk about DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and property taxes and reducing costs.
“All we can do is present our case and hope for the best.”
For those wondering, Flowers isn’t alone: The sheriffs of Taylor and Broward counties also have filed petitions with the state’s Administrative Commission in hopes of increasing their budgets.
Loar said Flowers’ decision to join them was not unexpected – but he doesn’t believe the governor’s panel will overrule the County Commission.
“Unless Eric already has some type of acknowledgement that he’ll get a favorable response, I don’t think the appeal will get much traction,” Loar said.
“If you look at our county, we’ve been very frugal the past few years, and yet we’ve continued to increase the sheriff’s budget.
“I’d be very surprised if there’s any change to our allocation.”
For his part, Titkanich, too, was optimistic, saying, “We have a compelling story to tell. I think we’re solid.”
Let’s hope so.
