Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office returning $600,000 to county to help cover shortfall

Article Published November 28, 2011

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright announced Monday during a County Council work session that the Sheriff's Office was giving back $600,000 to the county.

The Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office is giving back $600,000 to the county to help cover the county's more than $700,000 anticipated shortfall.

Sheriff Chuck Wright said during a Spartanburg County Council work session Monday afternoon that it was possible for his office to give back the money, which had been included in the county's budget, because an account for funding of rental equipment used for home detention services and another account for running the county detention center's prisoner canteen are self-sufficient.

The county had budgeted about $350,000 for this fiscal year for the rental equipment account, and about $250,000 for the canteen account.

Wright took over the jail in July and implemented a plan to reduce employee overtime that's expected to save the county more than $1.3 million.

The sheriff said he'll continue to look for savings.

"That money doesn't belong to us; it belongs to the taxpayers," Wright said.

The county is facing an anticipated $733,000 shortfall for the fiscal year that ends June 30 for several reasons, including a decline in fine revenue and an increase in spending on fuel.

Revenue from home foreclosures also is down because of a high number of foreclosure cancellations, Budget Management Office Director Cole Alverson said Monday.