REGARDING LAW ENFORCEMENT BUDGET INCREASES
Platte County Kevin Robinson over the weekend issued clarification of information presented by a county commissioner in regard to the budget growth for the offices of sheriff and prosecuting attorney.
During the Jan. 21 county commission meeting, Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker presented a summary table of annual budget totals for the sheriff and prosecutor “and relied on that table to make multiple claims regarding year-over-year percentage increases and dollar growth.”
Robinson said he was not included in the development, review or validation of the commission’s financial summary table prior to its public presentation.
“As the county’s independently elected financial officer, the auditor is responsible for examining, reconciling and publicly reporting accurate financial information,” Robinson said, adding that following the Jan 21 meeting he conducted a detailed review of the statements made and the data used to support them.
In his summary, Fricker claimed the sheriff and prosecuting attorney budgets have increased at an annual rate of 29%.
Robinson says that annual rate of increase noted by Fricker is incorrect.
“Using comparable gross expenditure data, the average annual increase from fiscal years 2022-2026 is annual growth of 10.57% for the sheriff’s office and 10.15% for the prosecuting attorney,” Robinson said in his press release.
Fricker also on Jan. 21 said the sheriff’s budget for 2026 had increased by $6 million over 2025. This is incorrect–by a wide margin, the auditor says.
“That figure relies on an incomplete 2025 adopted budget that omitted realigned departments. Using the correct amended budget, the 2026 increase is approximately $207,000,” the auditor remarked.
Also on Jan. 21, Fricker said: “Looking back at 2024, the sheriff’s budget increased by $15 million, or 66%.”
Robinson said that 66% figure is a misrepresentation by a wide margin. The auditor says the sheriff’s amended gross expenditure budget increased by $4.4 million, or 21.6%, from fiscal year 2024 to 2026.
In his news release, Robinson goes on to say that statements made by county commissioners suggesting that reserve transfers reflect fiscal imbalance “omit critical context.”
“The law enforcement sales tax was intentionally structured with reserve capacity to offset periods when law enforcement costs exceed revenues. Use of reserves in 2026 aligns with projections established during the tax’s development and does not indicate a budget shortfall,” Robinson said.
Robinson went on to say: “The public deserves accurate, complete and comparable financial information. When figures are presented without amendments, without accounting for structural changes or without independent verification, the resulting conclusions can be misleading.”
Robinson added that his office “will continue to provide reconciled, transparent financial analysis and encourages the use of verified data when discussing county finances in public forums.”
COMMISSION RESPONSE
Fricker at a commission meeting this week responded to the auditor’s press release.
Fricker said that while the auditor is independently elected, “he has forfeited his independence and has become a mouthpiece for the sheriff’s office and prosecutor’s office in a dispute we are having over the budget. He has chosen a side.”
Fricker referenced Robinson as being “a woefully inadequate budget officer. In the final month or so of the budget process there were massive changes to numbers on a regular basis and when we gave the auditor our final budget numbers he made at least nine mistakes that I count totaling over $500,000,” Fricker claimed.
“He presents a budget void of any context. We don’t get projections. We need perspective, trends and where we are headed in the future.”
In a phone interview held Monday afternoon, The Landmark asked Robinson for his reaction to Fricker’s comments.
“I know I’m doing my job when I get publicly attacked. He can say I have picked a side, but I am still independent and still doing what my job is,” Robinson replied.
Joe Vanover, second district commissioner, pointed out that whether the number is 29% annual growth in the budgets of the prosecutor and sheriff or 10% annual growth, it is clear each department’s budget number has been increasing.
“Even the county auditor says the law enforcement budgets have increased by an average of 10 percent each year from 2022 to 2026. Their budgets have increased by millions of dollars. No one with a rational mind could look at that and say we are defunding law enforcement,” Vanover said.
Vanover’s comment was in reference to recent statements by Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd that the county commission is “defunding law enforcement.”
