Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener kicked off budget season on Monday with the budgets for the Sheriff’s Office, Webster County Jail and Webster County Communications Center.

Just two months after a $45.5 million bond referendum to fund a new jail to replace the existing aging and overcrowded facility failed, Fleener requested $400,000 to house Webster County inmates in other county jails — a $50,000 increase over the previous year.

Aside from employee salaries, that $400,000 is the biggest line item in the jail’s budget and

does not include the salary of the deputy transporting inmates, fuel costs and wear and tear on the vehicles

According to Fleener, in 2023, the assistant jail administrator and other deputies traveled about 50,000 miles just transporting inmates, with an estimated fuel cost of $12,000.

In the November election, the bond referendum received roughly 55 percent yes votes, falling short of the 60 percent needed to pass.

Salaries

The largest budget expense for the Sheriff’s Office is employee salaries. The Board of Supervisors asked the department heads to present their budget proposals with a 0 percent salary increase to have a baseline of the department’s budget needs.

For FY24, Fleener budgeted $2,023,240 for 21 sworn deputies, detectives and courthouse personnel.

He also budgeted $40,000 for the annual step increases the staff receives per their union contracts.

Those salary expenses do not include the salaries of the sheriff or the chief deputy, which are collectively $209,000 for the current fiscal year. The administration salaries will be determined after the compensation board makes a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.

The proposed salary budget for the jail is for $1,215,000 for 23 officers and staff, which includes $73,000 for the jail administrator, $63,000 for the assistant jail administrator and $35,000 for an additional part-time cook. Fleener also proposed increasing the jail’s overtime budget from $30,000 to $70,000.

For the Webster County Communications Center, Fleener is proposing a $670,000 budget for salaries of 10 full-time staff, two part-time and a director and assistant director. He also proposed to increase the overtime fund from $40,000 to $60,000.

Vehicles and equipment

For FY24, Fleener is proposing a budget of $200,000 to replace four patrol vehicles. The equipment for those vehicles is an additional proposed $75,000.

The equipment budget also includes $46,800 for the annual agreement payment for the sheriff’s office’s body worn camera and interior vehicle camera systems.

“In my time as sheriff over the last few years, we’ve come a long ways in improving our equipment, giving our people the things that they need to do their job and do it very well,” Fleener said.

For fuel costs, including the fuel needed for inmate transportation, Fleener is requesting $95,000, an increase of $2,000 over last year.

The sheriff’s budget includes more than just expenses. The department is projecting to collect $210,000 in revenue from the contracts it has with the various communities in the county.

The budget proposal for jail operations includes $110,000 in food and provisions for inmates, $7,000 for clothing and dry goods, $25,000 for janitorial supplies and $40,000 on electronic key accountability machines and safety improvements of electronic monitoring.

In his proposal, Fleener noted that food costs have increased by about 10 percent and the costs of bedding, towels and jail uniforms have also increased. An increase in inmates has also contributed to the rising costs.

For fiscal year 2023-2024, the total budget of expenses and revenues for the Sheriff’s Office, jail and communications center is $5,360,692.

The total proposed budget for 2024-2025 is $6,428,285.

After hearing from all the county departments, the Board of Supervisors is now going over those proposals and will work with the department heads to craft the final budget that will be approved in March.

Jail statistics

During the budget workshop, Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener shared some statistics from the 2023 calendar year. In 2023, deputies initiated 1,933 traffic stops, 8,177 rural town checks, 303 school resource officers checks and 304 arrests by deputies and detectives.

They also processed 3,023 civil papers, served 1,737 papers and issued 569 weapons permits.

The sheriff also shared statistics for the jail and communications center for the 2023 calendar year.

The communications center received 71,302 911 and non-emergency calls, including 1,010 accidents, 732 domestic disturbances, 216 involving firearms or shots fired and 1,225 assaults and thefts.

The jail had 1,716 individuals taken into custody, including 1,652 new bookings of inmates. The jail also had 397 incident reports taken of assaults on staff and property damage, and 84 inmate disciplinary investigations were completed.