Several Broward County commissioners vowed Thursday to “never ever” give the Sheriff’s Office the reins on a multimillion dollar project again, after an enterprise that has left them with mounting costs and an unresolved debate about the final features for a new training center.
A county auditor’s report offers the most detailed account yet of what led to costs rising for the sheriff’s training center that opened in July. The final cost is now estimated at $73.7 million, which includes a $9.2 million funding shortfall. When the project began, it was estimated to cost $34 million.
Among the county’s concerns is $8.6 million used toward the tab that Sheriff Gregory Tony redirected from money elsewhere in his budget, including $4.8 million that was supposed to go toward salaries — all of it funded with county dollars.
“That means money you all appropriated for salaries went for the training center,” Auditor Robert Melton told county commissioners Thursday. While some money dedicated for salaries was from vacancies and attrition, “some of it was intentionally delaying filling some positions,” he said.