As noted above, being a
law enforcement agency, the JPSO spends the majority of its funds on salaries and
benefits. Other major expenditure categories
include general operating expenses, materials and supplies, travel, capital outlay,
and intergovernmental.
-
Salaries and Benefits
– the majority of the expenditures of the JPSO (nearly 75 cents on every dollar)
is on salaries and benefits. The JPSO
employee over 1,500 employees. In addition
to direct salaries, the JPSO also passes on detail fees to the deputies who work
details for other governmental agencies (such as the airport or the parish). Money received from the State under
the Deputy Sheriff’s Supplemental Pay Program is also passed through to the deputies
who meet certain eligibility requirements.
All JPSO employees participate
in the Louisiana Sheriff’s Pension and Relief Plan, a cost-sharing multiple-employer
defined benefit public employee retirement plan run by a separate board of trustees. The JPSO and its employees pay a certain
percentage of the gross salaries into this plan.
All JPSO employees also
participate in the JPSO Group Health and Life Plan, a self-insured group health
plan providing medical and pharmaceutical care to participants.
The JPSO pays 100 percent of the premium for its employees to participate
in this plan. The employee is allowed
to have his or her family participate in the plan as well for a certain additional
premium. The JPSO pays for a portion
of this premium, as well.
Although the employees of
the JPSO are covered by a pension plan, they still must contribute to the federal
medicare program. As such, the JPSO
incurs a cost associated with these taxes.
- General Operating
Expenses – this category accounts for normal operating costs (i.e., utilities,
postage, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc.) as well as other specific
expenses, such as automobile insurance, community and youth programs, or the costs
of feeding the prisoners in the parish jail.
- Materials and
Supplies – this category accounts for office supplies, law enforcement supplies
(such as ammunition, uniforms, bullet proof vests, etc.), auto and marine costs
(gasoline, repairs and maintenance, etc.).
Travel – this
is the smallest expense category and tracks the cost of travel to training programs,
travel to other jurisdictions, etc.
-
Capital Outlay – to ensure that its
deputies and employees have the tools that they need to perform their duties, the
JPSO dedicates a portion of its budget to purchasing new cars, computers, and other
specialized equipment.
See the audited financial
statements for details on each of these expenditure categories for the current year.