It’s been nearly a month since the Florence County Sheriff’s Office unveiled its new aviation unit.
The Florence County Sheriff’s Office got the helicopter, known as Raptor 1, under the 1033 program from the U.S. Department of Defense.
However, take off could prove to be a tough task.
“I’m not saying it wouldn’t be an asset. it’s just…number one we don’t have the ability to raise taxes for it nor would a majority of council would vote to raise taxes to provide those funds,” mentioned James Schofield, Vice-Chairman of the Florence County Council.
Recently, the sheriff’s office requested over $300,000 from Florence County Council.
They requested in the 2016 Budget $100,000.00 for fuel and maintenance on a recurring basis. We also asked for $230,000.00 for equipment (FLIR and spotlight).
“Again [We have] $6 million in excess request. $618,000 for more ems personnel…we need that,” explained Schofield.
Schofield says plans for the aviation program is just not in the budget because funding requests county wide are already $6 million over budget.
“If somebody finds $300,000 in the budget somewhere [But] I don’t see where it’s going to happen,” he added.
The sheriff’s office acquired two helicopters.
Raptor 1 is used to search for missing persons, wandering Alzheimer’s patients, along with finding stolen property, while the other is used for spare parts.
In a statement released Sheriff Kenney Boone last month he stated, “we believe that the aviation division provides Florence County with an additional capability to save lives and improve effectiveness.”
Schofield says the county has already raised taxes to in order to give some county employees raises that they haven’t received in several years.
He stated that worst case scenario, the sheriff’s office would either have to turn the helicopters back in or transfer it to another county.
There will be a budget workshop held this Thursday to further look into the budget, along with a third reading in June.
