Reposted from the Indiana Barrister blog written by central Indiana's leading political reporter and radio/television pundit, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson may be crying poverty, but from an intial look at his budget someone at the Sheriff’s department likes to spend money like a drunken sailor in a Vietnamese brothel.
As I told you earlier Anderson, requested a $26 million increase over last year’s budget. MCSD spent $84 million in 2007 and was on track to spend $91 million in 2008 and requested more than $111 million in 2009. That amount was cut back to about $85 million. After going through the budget on-line, here’s what I discovered.
Out of that $26 million increase, $17.5 million went to salaries and benefits. $8.889 million was for salaries, $2.2 million went for raises. He only spent $26 million on salaries in 2007, so why would he need $36 million in 2009? Unless he hired a bunch of people and now trying to get you to write checks that he can’t cash?
In addition, in 2008 MCSD only spent $44,000 on hospital supplies. It requested $1.1 million in 2009. That’s a lot of band-aids.
A lot of sheriff’s deputies must need new clothes, because Anderson went from spending $146,609 on uniforms in 2008 to wanting to spend more than $390,000 in 2009.
Someone at MCSD must also be using a lot of paper because printing costs went from just under $11,000 for 2008 to about $193,000 in 2009.
The rumors about Anderson wanting to buy new cars must be closer to the truth than I thought. His vehicle budget went from $11,000 in 2008 to $723,000 in 2009.
Tired? I hope not, there’s still more.
Anderson’s building security budget went from $0 in 2008 to $400,000 in 2009. I feel safer already.
They also must be expecting to get sued a lot over at the jail. They spent $275,000 on settlement payments in 2008 and expect to spend $2.1 million in 2009. I’m definitely practicing the wrong kind of law.
A lot people must also be getting sick over at the Jail too because medical and hospital expenses are going up from $3.02 million in 2008 to $6.2 million in 2009.
And those pesky cars and vans showed up again under capital expenditures. Anderson only spent $114,000 on cars in 2008 and nothing on vans. Those numbers went up to almost $1.7 million for cars and $740,000 for vans in 2009.
I’m sure the Sheriff has a pretty good explanation for all this. I’ll be watching when he testifies at his budget hearing in a few weeks.
By the way, if you think I am pulling this all out of my rear, you can see the numbers here for yourself.
About the author
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is the host of “Abdul in the Mornings” which can be heard weekday mornings from 6-10 on Newstalk 1430 AM, WXNT. Abdul’s program focuses on local, state and national issues. His list of guests have included U.S. Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, Governor Mitch Daniels, Mayor Bart Peterson, House Speaker Pat Bauer and Indianapolis City-County Council President Monroe Gray.
In addition to hosting the morning show, Abdul is also an attorney and Of Counsel at the law firm of John, Lewis and Wilkins in downtown Indianapolis. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Indianapolis and Ivy Tech Community College, a columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal, an actor and stand-up comedian. Prior to coming to Indianapolis, Abdul hosted a morning radio talk show in Springfield, IL. Before that he was an assistant to the Illinois Attorney General. He has also been a television and radio reporter in Central and Northern Illinois.
Abdul holds a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs Reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield and a law degree from St. Louis University. He is an army brat having lived for several years in Europe. He has one son, Gene, and several brothers and sisters, a few of which live in the Indianapolis area.
