Sheriff’s request for additional deputy roils fiscal court’s 2021-22 budget discussion

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 — Nelson Fiscal Court spent time reviewing a draft of the county’s 2021-22 budget that included a sometimes testy exchange between Sheriff Ramon Pineiroa and Judge Executive Dean Watts.

Pineiroa asked Nelson Fiscal Court to fund an additional deputy position for the county road patrol. According to law enforcement organizations, the county’s population requires more officers than are currently working in law enforcement.

Watts told Pineiroa that he had hired an additional deputy last year when he hired retired deputy Jerry Hardin. Hardin’s hire was not funded by fiscal court, but was paid using excess fees the sheriff’s office collects for handling tax money and serving court paperwork.

The move last year angered Watts, because historically, the sheriff’s office has returned excess fees each year to fiscal court. Fiscal court then spends those monies once they are received — some of which are spent on needs for the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s move to hire personnel and pay them from those excess fees ended up greatly reducing the amount that was returned to fiscal court.

The sheriff’s office had in the past returned as much as $200,000 in fees to fiscal court annually

Pineiroa told the court that he’s passionate about going to bat for his deputies and for providing law enforcement for the entire county. With cutbacks in the number of Kentucky State Police officers in the county, law enforcement outside the cities is now almost entirely on the shoulders of the sheriff’s office, he said.

WHY FISCAL COURT FUNDS MATTER TO THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE. In 2000, the sheriff’s office and the Nelson County police were merged by contract. Under the terms of that contract, fiscal court agreed to fund and equip deputies for law enforcement duties across the county. Therefore, the sheriff’s office budget is supplemented by funds provided by fiscal court — and those funds require the court’s review and approval.

Pineiroa told the court his request for raises for his deputies have been denied, and that he was told to cut costs by hiring retired deputies that don’t need health insurance or retirement costs.

“I’ve done that. Now you’re preaching that this is a team effort, but we can go and and you’re not going to like what I tell you” Pineiroa told Watts regarding his need to hire an additional deputy. “I was elected to serve as sheriff and I’m asking for what I need.”

After additional discussion, Watts agreed to take a serious look at Pineiroa’s request for more manpower. He told the sheriff he would review staffing levels in sheriff’s offices in similar size counties to see the number of deputies dedicated to law enforcement.

“If I find out I’m wrong I’ll admit I’m wrong and we’ll move forward,” Watts said. “I want to look at it from a bigger picture and see if we can do better.”

ANIMAL CONTROL. One late change that the proposed budget did not yet reflect is that the humane society wants the county to take over the adoption of pets from the animal shelter.

According to humane society personnel, they have continued to struggle to recruit volunteers to help them.

Watts said the choice may wind up being to continue the adoption program as it is, or go back to euthanizing greater numbers of pets brought into the shelter. Additional discussion will take place at the next meeting of Nelson Fiscal Court.

EMS FEE HIKE. Fiscal court approved a revised fee schedule for the services provideggvd by Nelson County EMS.

The fee increases are necessary because the service continues to get insufficient reimbursements to cover its operating costs. County government provides a substantial subsidey for the EMS service, but with reimbursements declining, the county compared rates with other county-operated ambulance services.

The new rates are estimated to generate an additional $97,000 in revenue for the EMS service.

In other business, fiscal court:

— approved a five-year tax assessment moratorium for a property located at 204 East Stephen Foster Ave.

NEXT UP. Nelson Fiscal Court next meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 18, 2021.

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