INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla — The budget battle between Indian River County Commissioners and Sheriff Eric Flowers over more funding continues despite an approved increase.
On Wednesday, commissioners approved an $85.7 million budget for the sheriff’s office, an increase of $6.8 million for the fiscal year.
But Flowers said the amount is not enough to address the need for salary increases and to fund community programs.
“I’m super disappointed in how they’ve handled this entire thing," Flowers said.
Speaking to the media just moments after commissioners voted unanimously for the budget increase, Flowers criticized the commissioners’ decision and pushed back against their priorities.
“This comes down to county commissioners making decisions about what they prioritize. And unfortunately, our county has chosen trash, Flowers said. "They’ve chosen 20 new employees. They’ve chosen all these other things, but they haven’t chosen law enforcement.”
Flowers originally requested $14.6 million but reduced it to $12.2 million following months of debate with commissioners. He warned that the budget shortfall could lead to future cuts and a pause on hiring.
“We might not be able to buy vehicles this year. We might not be able to buy replacement laptops," Flowers said. "There’s a whole lot of programs that are probably going to get cut out. We’ve got amazing community programs that we’ve built up, and so we’ve got some hard decisions to make.”
Flowers slammed the decision as shortsighted, arguing the increase request is justified to help the sheriff’s office retain staff and put salaries on par with neighboring counties, where starting pay is higher.
“For me, there’s no way that I can go into my budget without our deputies making $60,000 a year. It’s not fair, Flowers said. "They’re going through so much calls, and I want to make sure our people are making at least what the fire department is making.”
Getting you answers, we reached out to the county. In a statement to WPTV, County spokesperson Kathy Copeland said Flowers did not attend budget hearings and workshops that were set to specifically discuss his request.
The statement said commissioners couldn’t approve a higher increase because the millage was voted on prior to budget hearings.
Read the full statement from Copeland below:
"The Board of County Commissioners is aware of the Sheriff’s disappointment in the amount approved for his 2025-2026 budget. He has made that clear using media platforms.
Regrettably, he did not attend the Budget hearings, including the workshop that was set to specifically to discuss his request.
Last week the tentative budget was set during a 5 hour meeting and tonight was the final approval.
The millage was voted on prior to both. The Sheriff was fully aware that the Board can’t raise the millage during a tentative or final budget hearing.
During the 5 hour hearing last week the Board voted to provide the Sheriff with additional dollars emphasizing they were to be spent on deputy salary increases. These dollars were made possible by making cuts to County operations in lieu of dipping into reserves.
The budget voted on tonight simply codifies all deliberations and final decisions by the Board to date.
This budget represents a fiscally responsible approach to managing public health and safety while providing county operations and services."
Meanwhile, the sheriff insisted that safety and security will not be compromised.
He said he is exploring other funding options, vowing to seek support from state officials.
“I am looking at essentially writing the wrong that the Commission did, reversing course on their decisions. And I think there’s a path to that," Flowers said.
