A.J. Smith and his sheriff’s office run a 24/7, 365-day operation for Franklin County.
While he believes it’s “the safest county in America,” Smith says that it should also be the most informed.
Smith spoke on what the amendment would mean for fiscally constrained counties like Franklin.
“I’m operating on a $7 million budget. I have 85 employees. We provide a very high level of service. We you know, we change people’s tires on the road. We have 100 inmates in here. This is like a small city. It costs money to run this. And, you know, we’re not asking for more money. We’re just asking to stay where we are and be able to provide a high level of service that we are already providing,” Smith said.
With that $7 million budget, Smith says this amendment passing would cause Franklin County to lose 6.3% of their budget from their ad valorem revenue, meaning they would lose $630,000 annually from this amendment.
Smith is highlighting what impacts residents could see from the budget hit.
“We unlock people’s cars, we don’t charge them a nickel. Maybe that’s something, we probably do ten a week that’s something…Maybe that’s something we don’t do. So there’s a lot of different things to look at. And I think the people of Franklin County appreciate like us unlocking cars and working a wreck so they don’t have to wait, things like that,” Smith said.
While Smith stands with the Florida Sheriff’s Association, he emphasized that he’s not telling residents how to vote.
“That’s one of the great things about our country is we still can vote for our elected officials. We don’t like the You don’t like the job. that the sheriff does, they can vote in a new one,” Smith said.
Still, he recommends residents educate themselves on the amendment.