From the Desk of Sheriff Chad Anderson
Today, my Office has successfully submitted our requested 2025 Budget to the County Budget Officer. I am proud of my employees for the sacrifices and dedication they give to the Citizens of Bates County. I believe my employees are the biggest asset to the Sheriff's Office and to the Citizens of Bates County. This year, the County Commissioners approved a 5% Cost of Living Adjustment for all county employees. This equates to an additional $187,000 in salaries for the Sheriff's Office. Approximately 55% of our annual budget is allocated to the Salaries of the Sheriff's Office. In the 2025 proposed budget, we had to increase our line items in three areas. Salaries, Insurance and vehicles (two of these are out of our control). Because of the COLA raise the salary line items increased to cover the additional cost and overtime. The increase in Insurance cost is being felt across the nation by almost all law enforcement. This line item was increased to cover the rising cost. In previous years, the Sheriff's Office has leased/purchased our fleet of patrol vehicles. This allows for the Sheriff's Office to provide the deputies with safe and quality vehicles and spread the cost of those vehicles over 3 to 4 budget years. This year, there is enough in the budget to purchase the vehicles outright, instead of leasing the fleet, saving the Sheriff's Office approximately $8,000 to $9,000 a year in interest. After one of our Deputies was nearly killed from a vehicle striking the rear of his vehicle at 70mph, the safety of the patrol vehicle is just as important as providing a bullet resistant vest. Considering the three largest increased line items mentioned above, the Sheriff's Office is only requesting approximately $21,000 increase over last year's approved budget. In 2024 the Sheriff's Office spent most of the year negotiating contracts for jail housing. This will result in an increase of $600,000 to $1,000,000 dollars in additional revenue for law enforcement. I am proud of the staff at the Sheriff's Office. It's their hard work and dedication that has helped Bates County as a whole become financially stable. Bates County does have a ½ cent Law Enforcement Tax but it does not cover all the costs of the four Offices (Prosecutor, Juvenile, Coroner, and Sheriff’s Office) that are supposed to be funded out of that tax. Without the hard work, sacrifice and dedication of the Staff at the Sheriff's Office, law enforcement would require the General Fund to provide all of jts funding and that would greatly reduce the services currently provided to the Citizens we have today. These reductions would not just be at the Sheriff's Office, but across most, if not all of the other elected offices. Currently, the Sheriff's Office's budget is 100% self-sufficient, not using any locally collected sales tax and has never received any property tax.
Sheriff Chad Anderson
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