05-10-2007, 12:03 AM
PBSO freezes hiring due to budget cuts
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By Hector Florin
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
An indefinite hiring freeze is in place at the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office to offset increased overtime hours employees worked to crack down on gang violence and cuts to local government budgets that could result from tax reform proposals state lawmakers are considering.
Job vacancies for the 3,810-employee agency, which includes non-uniformed personnel, will still be filled, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in an interview today.
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But the hiring of 30 new deputies this year, planned during last year's budget process, won't happen. Bradshaw proposed no new hires in the budget he submitted to the county last week.
As a result, a new suburban Boynton Beach substation that is ready to be occupied won't open.
"It's already built. It's going to be sitting there vacant," Bradshaw said.
Budget constraints have also forced Bradshaw to cut back on the number of new patrol cars he intended to buy to replace older models; neighborhood patrols will be cut back; and school resource officers may be moved out of schools and given different assignments.
Money to increase the agency's training budget and order additional body armor was also cut from next year's budget.
Bradshaw called the increase in next year's proposed $426 million spending plan — a $41.8 million bump from this year — "the bare minimum." Most of the new money requested will go to pay for deputies' salaries and benefits agreed to in a collective bargaining agreement signed with the county's Police Benevolent Association last August.
Click-2-Listen
By Hector Florin
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
An indefinite hiring freeze is in place at the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office to offset increased overtime hours employees worked to crack down on gang violence and cuts to local government budgets that could result from tax reform proposals state lawmakers are considering.
Job vacancies for the 3,810-employee agency, which includes non-uniformed personnel, will still be filled, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in an interview today.
More local news
Latest breaking news, photos and all of today's Post stories.
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What are these?
But the hiring of 30 new deputies this year, planned during last year's budget process, won't happen. Bradshaw proposed no new hires in the budget he submitted to the county last week.
As a result, a new suburban Boynton Beach substation that is ready to be occupied won't open.
"It's already built. It's going to be sitting there vacant," Bradshaw said.
Budget constraints have also forced Bradshaw to cut back on the number of new patrol cars he intended to buy to replace older models; neighborhood patrols will be cut back; and school resource officers may be moved out of schools and given different assignments.
Money to increase the agency's training budget and order additional body armor was also cut from next year's budget.
Bradshaw called the increase in next year's proposed $426 million spending plan — a $41.8 million bump from this year — "the bare minimum." Most of the new money requested will go to pay for deputies' salaries and benefits agreed to in a collective bargaining agreement signed with the county's Police Benevolent Association last August.