Broward commissioners, sheriff clash over spending

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(The Center Square) – The battle over Amendment 3 has become the backdrop for a funding fight between Broward County commissioners and Sheriff Gregory Tony.

Tuesday, commissioners voted to authorize the county attorney’s office to take “any and all appropriate legal action” to gain access to inspect the sheriff’s Research, Development and Training Center.

The vote came after Tony blocked commissioners from visiting the facility.

The training center, which was built at the sheriff’s request, was originally expected to cost $34 million to construct but ballooned into a $73.7 million project.

Commissioners say the dispute reflects broader concerns about transparency in the sheriff’s spending.

“We have a sheriff who refuses to disclose things, fights our requests, locks his doors, hides in his office making videos, doesn’t show up in our meetings, doesn’t want to talk about things. And when someone doesn’t want to voluntarily give information, as far as I’m concerned my question is what is being hidden? What’s there to hide?” asked Mayor Mark Bogen.

Meanwhile, Tony has accused the commissioners of using concerns over the training facility as a way to deflect from paying Broward Sheriff’s Office employees competitive wages.

“The County keeps calling for an audit of BSO’s books, repeatedly raising questions about the Research, Development and Training Center (R.D.T.C.), a project the County Auditor already examined in 2024,” said Tony.

He said his office responded to the audit findings which identified shortcomings in the county’s oversight and corrections to millions of dollars in changes in fees required by Broward County.

The dispute has spread online and into the media with the sheriff granting a local TV station access to tour the training facility after blocking the commissioners from doing so.

Residents have repeatedly posted comments urging a yes vote on Amendment 3 under videos on the sheriff’s social media pages.

The Florida Sheriffs Association has come out in opposition to Amendment 3, which would increase the homestead tax exemption to $250,000 by 2028.

Commissioner Steve Geller says the sheriff keeps requesting more funding at an unsustainable rate.

“In 2025, our county agencies went up 2.7% in funding. Broward Sheriff’s Office got an 8.7% increase. In 2026, our county agencies were funded with the net reduction of .07% while the sheriff received a 3.1% increase. This year, when he’s threatening again to appeal like he did last year, our county general funding agencies received a 3.4% increase while BSO got a 6.4% increase. The sheriff keeps asking for a higher and higher percentage of our county budget which would reduce all of our other agencies. And sheriff, you can’t keep having a higher percentage of our budget each year; it’s unsustainable,” said Geller.

The sheriff’s requested budget was over $1.5 billion for fiscal year 2026-27, up from the over $1.4 billion requested the previous year – an increase of almost $80 million, according to documents reviewed by The Center Square.

That came after the adopted budget for fiscal year 2025-26 also represented an increase of $72.8 million.

“The taxpayers of Broward County deserve to know how every dollar is being spent,” said the mayor. “What’s the big deal?”