Broward County alleges sheriff’s ‘financial mismanagement’ amid bitter budget feud
By Jake Shore, Carlton Gillespie
November 25, 2025 at 6:00 AM EST
Broward County took aim at Sheriff Gregory Tony’s alleged “financial mismanagement,” like expensive branding at the sheriff’s training center and a costly fleet of helicopters, in the latest escalation of their budget feud.
The response followed Tony’s Nov. 7 appeal that the county make up the roughly $73 million-dollar difference between the BSO's proposed budget and the county’s approved budget for the next fiscal year.
The sheriff said the funding is necessary to raise BSO salaries across the board. The goal is to stay competitive for candidates amid a slump in law enforcement and fire rescue applications.
The county’s reduction “reflects a determination by the County that BSO public safety employees do not merit compensation in parity with other local, state, and national public safety agencies and public sector employers,” the agency wrote. Tony asked the state to intervene.
On Nov. 17, Broward County filed its response to the sheriff’s appeal.
The county rebuts the sheriff’s arguments but its most striking claims come near the end, when it says that Tony has “transferred money away from salaries to pay for preferred projects” in the past and that the agency “has otherwise mismanaged its own budget, at taxpayer expense.”
In an emailed statement, BSO called the response “an after-the-fact attempt to justify its arbitrary decision to slash BSO’s budget to meet its pre-determined budget goal.”
Training center ‘branding’
Relying on a 2024 county auditor’s report, the county said BSO overran its budget for its training center by roughly $18 million. The costs piled up from change orders, which included $552,905 in “branding” throughout the building, it said.
“This branding included a blown-up graphic of the Sheriff, motivational signs with the Sheriff’s self quotations, and logos with the Sheriff’s name and degree,” the county wrote.
According to the county, the sheriff diverted “about $4.8 million from salaries for detention, regional Fire Rescue, investigations, and law enforcement” in order to pay for the full project.
The audit also found that change orders for the wellness center alone cost $7.5 million, and included construction of a sauna and cold plunge tub.
Cold plunge and sauna in the Broward Sheriff's Office training and wellness center, which Broward County recently lambasted in a Nov. 17, 2025, filing: "All in all, the Sheriff’s overspending for the project showed a lack of transparency, accuracy, and prudent fiscal prioritization." (1166x1152, AR: 1.0121527777777777)
Earlier this month, the sheriff filed a budget appeal claiming the county shortchanged BSO first responders by increasing its budget by only 3%, instead of BSO’s proposed 9%.
READ MORE: Contract dispute between City of Deerfield Beach and Broward Sheriff’s office escalates
That would have primarily funded pay increases for all employees and been in line with a parity study that BSO commissioned, according to the agency.
BSO’s proposed budget would have paid out the increases over two fiscal years.
The sheriff says he’s long been frustrated with the way the County has handled budget negotiations. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Broward Legislative Delegation earlier this month, Tony said the county’s unwillingness to be proactive is hurting his department and Broward residents.
“ I'm not gonna sit here and wait for another damn helicopter to fall out the sky, or more issues with [911] communications, or watch me lose 400 plus public safety professionals to only see them go to Miami and Palm Beach because people will die,” according to Tony.
“It's not fearmongering. It's not some political speech,” he continued, “This ain't a political season. This is a fact.”
Helicopters
Another point of contention between the sheriff’s appeal and the county's reply is over BSO’s helicopters.
According to the sheriff, the county only stepped in to replace its aging fleet after an August 2023 crash that killed two people, including a BSO fire rescue captain.
“The County cannot wait until a tragedy occurs to act,” BSO said in its appeal.
The county claimed that’s not how it occurred.
According to Broward County, the sheriff never requested funding to replace or add helicopters to its aviation unit before the 2023 crash.
After the crash, Broward officials budgeted $14.9 million for BSO to replace the helicopter, but Tony’s agency didn’t spend it on a replacement.
“BSO used the $14.9 million as a down payment on three helicopters without formally advising the County Commission,” the county wrote.
Then, the county said it had to pay off the balance for the three helicopters, which cost over $24 million, in the next budget.
Some cities reconsider working with BSO
Broward County is not the only entity struggling to meet the Sheriff’s budget demands.
Over the summer, the city of Deerfield Beach and BSO engaged in a widely publicized fight over rate increases.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony
The city contracts with BSO for law enforcement and fire rescue services.
Those agreements state that budget increases for the sheriff's office year to year may not exceed 5%. However, citing its salary study, BSO asked for a 9.4% increase for Fire Rescue and a 10.1% increase for law enforcement services.
Deerfield Beach opposed the increase and commissioned the Center for Public Safety to analyze the financial impact of firing BSO and standing up a city operated police force. Pompano Beach held a virtual town hall in October to get input from residents on the same issue.
Pembroke Park ended their contract with BSO in 2022 to form their own police department. In August, during the dispute with Deerfield Beach, Tony cited Pembroke Park as a cautionary tale.
“You cannot afford to play this political game and have the same ripple effect down in Pembroke Park where they're begging — some — for us to come back. We're answering the majority of their calls,” he said.
But Tony’s claims were shot down by Pembroke Park Police Chief Daniel DeCoursey.
“ His remarks not only mischaracterize our department, but also cast an unwanted shadow over the dedicated officers who work tirelessly to serve and protect the people and businesses in the neighborhoods of Pembroke Park,” he said.
State of funding appeal
The decision on BSO’s appeal now falls to the State of Florida Administration Commission, which is comprised of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cabinet.
In an October press release, DeSantis’ administration took aim at what it considered to be excessive spending by Broward. The sheriff was not included in that accounting.
In 2019, DeSantis appointed Tony to become Broward County Sheriff, after removing Scott Israel from the post in the aftermath of the Parkland school massacre.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to WLRN’s request for information on when the commission will hear the appeal.
(2750x625, AR: 4.4)
The response followed Tony’s Nov. 7 appeal that the county make up the roughly $73 million-dollar difference between the BSO's proposed budget and the county’s approved budget for the next fiscal year.
The sheriff said the funding is necessary to raise BSO salaries across the board. The goal is to stay competitive for candidates amid a slump in law enforcement and fire rescue applications.
The county’s reduction “reflects a determination by the County that BSO public safety employees do not merit compensation in parity with other local, state, and national public safety agencies and public sector employers,” the agency wrote. Tony asked the state to intervene.
On Nov. 17, Broward County filed its response to the sheriff’s appeal.
The county rebuts the sheriff’s arguments but its most striking claims come near the end, when it says that Tony has “transferred money away from salaries to pay for preferred projects” in the past and that the agency “has otherwise mismanaged its own budget, at taxpayer expense.”
In an emailed statement, BSO called the response “an after-the-fact attempt to justify its arbitrary decision to slash BSO’s budget to meet its pre-determined budget goal.”
Training center ‘branding’
Relying on a 2024 county auditor’s report, the county said BSO overran its budget for its training center by roughly $18 million. The costs piled up from change orders, which included $552,905 in “branding” throughout the building, it said.
“This branding included a blown-up graphic of the Sheriff, motivational signs with the Sheriff’s self quotations, and logos with the Sheriff’s name and degree,” the county wrote.
According to the county, the sheriff diverted “about $4.8 million from salaries for detention, regional Fire Rescue, investigations, and law enforcement” in order to pay for the full project.
The audit also found that change orders for the wellness center alone cost $7.5 million, and included construction of a sauna and cold plunge tub.
Cold plunge and sauna in the Broward Sheriff's Office training and wellness center, which Broward County recently lambasted in a Nov. 17, 2025, filing: "All in all, the Sheriff’s overspending for the project showed a lack of transparency, accuracy, and prudent fiscal prioritization." (1166x1152, AR: 1.0121527777777777)
Earlier this month, the sheriff filed a budget appeal claiming the county shortchanged BSO first responders by increasing its budget by only 3%, instead of BSO’s proposed 9%.
READ MORE: Contract dispute between City of Deerfield Beach and Broward Sheriff’s office escalates
That would have primarily funded pay increases for all employees and been in line with a parity study that BSO commissioned, according to the agency.
BSO’s proposed budget would have paid out the increases over two fiscal years.
The sheriff says he’s long been frustrated with the way the County has handled budget negotiations. Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Broward Legislative Delegation earlier this month, Tony said the county’s unwillingness to be proactive is hurting his department and Broward residents.
“ I'm not gonna sit here and wait for another damn helicopter to fall out the sky, or more issues with [911] communications, or watch me lose 400 plus public safety professionals to only see them go to Miami and Palm Beach because people will die,” according to Tony.
“It's not fearmongering. It's not some political speech,” he continued, “This ain't a political season. This is a fact.”
Helicopters
Another point of contention between the sheriff’s appeal and the county's reply is over BSO’s helicopters.
According to the sheriff, the county only stepped in to replace its aging fleet after an August 2023 crash that killed two people, including a BSO fire rescue captain.
“The County cannot wait until a tragedy occurs to act,” BSO said in its appeal.
The county claimed that’s not how it occurred.
According to Broward County, the sheriff never requested funding to replace or add helicopters to its aviation unit before the 2023 crash.
After the crash, Broward officials budgeted $14.9 million for BSO to replace the helicopter, but Tony’s agency didn’t spend it on a replacement.
“BSO used the $14.9 million as a down payment on three helicopters without formally advising the County Commission,” the county wrote.
Then, the county said it had to pay off the balance for the three helicopters, which cost over $24 million, in the next budget.
Some cities reconsider working with BSO
Broward County is not the only entity struggling to meet the Sheriff’s budget demands.
Over the summer, the city of Deerfield Beach and BSO engaged in a widely publicized fight over rate increases.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony
The city contracts with BSO for law enforcement and fire rescue services.
Those agreements state that budget increases for the sheriff's office year to year may not exceed 5%. However, citing its salary study, BSO asked for a 9.4% increase for Fire Rescue and a 10.1% increase for law enforcement services.
Deerfield Beach opposed the increase and commissioned the Center for Public Safety to analyze the financial impact of firing BSO and standing up a city operated police force. Pompano Beach held a virtual town hall in October to get input from residents on the same issue.
Pembroke Park ended their contract with BSO in 2022 to form their own police department. In August, during the dispute with Deerfield Beach, Tony cited Pembroke Park as a cautionary tale.
“You cannot afford to play this political game and have the same ripple effect down in Pembroke Park where they're begging — some — for us to come back. We're answering the majority of their calls,” he said.
But Tony’s claims were shot down by Pembroke Park Police Chief Daniel DeCoursey.
“ His remarks not only mischaracterize our department, but also cast an unwanted shadow over the dedicated officers who work tirelessly to serve and protect the people and businesses in the neighborhoods of Pembroke Park,” he said.
State of funding appeal
The decision on BSO’s appeal now falls to the State of Florida Administration Commission, which is comprised of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his cabinet.
In an October press release, DeSantis’ administration took aim at what it considered to be excessive spending by Broward. The sheriff was not included in that accounting.
In 2019, DeSantis appointed Tony to become Broward County Sheriff, after removing Scott Israel from the post in the aftermath of the Parkland school massacre.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to WLRN’s request for information on when the commission will hear the appeal.
(2750x625, AR: 4.4)