A tense budget battle is escalating between the Broward County Commission and the Broward Sheriff’s Office.
The battle has spanned for weeks, and earlier in the week, Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony announced on social media that he suspended all negotiations over BSO’s $850 million budget after the county voted to pull the county fire rescue out of BSO’s control.
There had also been discussions that appear to suggest straying away from using BSO for public safety at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades.
On Friday, Broward County officials launched an investigation into how Tony is spending money at the sheriff’s office.
“The people of Broward County need to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent.” said Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen. “They need to know whether the dollars are being spent for law enforcement or they’re being spent for massages, cold plunges, saunas or anything else that does not have to do with law enforcement. We want accountability, we want transparency, and we want to make sure the money is being spent appropriately.”
Commissioners are also concerned about the spending and say Tony has not been transparent.
“Take four and a half million dollars away from paying your deputies, who you claim are underpaid, and use it at the training center,” said Broward County District 4 Commissioner Lamar Fisher. “How do you answer that? The sheriff needs to answer these kind of questions, and it’s very disturbing that he’s not here to communicate. All I want to do is communicate with him.”
“This sheriff has extricated himself from the budget process. Sit with us, come with us,” said Broward County District 3 Commissioner Michael Udine. “He hasn’t been here since May to talk about his budget; we should be working on this together.”
BSO has said it will not discuss details connected to the investigation under the consultation of legal counsel.
Tony responded Friday afternoon with the following statement:
“Mayor Bogen is welcome to file a false complaint to the statewide prosecutor or Florida Department of Law Enforcement at any time. Their contact names and numbers are located on the last page of the criminal subpoena he received this past September.”
Sheriff Tony declined an interview, instead taking to social media and posting a video where he said:
“Mr. Bogen, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Udine decide they’re going to stand in front of a camera and fire shots at me and claim that BSO is participating in mismanaging funds and corruptions… I said this before, and I guess they’re not listening and learning we keep every receipt in this agency… They claim that they, they don’t understand what was expended inside the training center. They already did this hit piece attack back in 2024.”
Sheriff Tony is a constitutional officer, meaning he has no strong legal obligation to comply with the county’s request beyond a public information request, and he can spend his own budget how he sees fit.
Commissioners argue the sheriff’s books should still be open in the name of transparency.
“This is a partnership,” said Fisher. “I don’t care who you’re constitutional or elected official, you’ve got to work together to make things happen for the betterment of Broward County. It’s not a party issue, it’s just kind of coming together and just working together, and unfortunately, we have a sheriff who is not willing to do that, and that’s the $64 question. Why?”
The sheriff argues all BSO audits are for public display on the department’s website.
