Pinal County supervisors have warned Sheriff Paul Babeu they won't give him a cent to operate a used helicopter he's buying with most of the $1 million he received from the state Legislature to fight drug and human smuggling.
Babeu will pay $799,850 for a chopper he plans to use for smuggling interdiction, search and rescue and high-speed pursuits. An additional $100,000 to $150,000 is needed to make the craft law-enforcement ready.
Lt. Scott Elliot, one of two pilots for the helicopter, told supervisors on Wednesday that the sheriff plans to use seized drug money and remaining state funds to cover service and fuel costs, anticipated to be $300,000 annually if the chopper were to stay in the air 15 hours a week.
"We as a county do not have the general funds to operate this luxury, and it is a luxury," said Supervisor Bryan Martyn, a retired U.S. Air Force helicopter pilot. "The Sheriff's Office will need to find its own funds."
Word of the purchase came just as the board was asked to spend more than $600,000 in contingency funds to offset a deficit in the sheriff's 2011 budget for fuel and overtime costs. A deficit of $700,000 is anticipated for 2012, and sheriff's officials blame high gas fees and the county's non-response to repeated requests for a larger fuel budget.
The timing riled Supervisor Pete Rios.
"The sheriff's department has exceeded their current budget as it is, and to now say it's OK to buy a luxury item and spend another $300,000 on fuel?" Rios said. "I can't support this."
Sheriff's spokesman Tim Gaffney said the office has been given the same fuel budget since 2009 but uses about $122,000 in gas each month, mostly through prisoner transport and patrol operations.
Gaffney said helicopter fuel will be paid out of the sheriff's private fund.
"The county needs to project the rising cost of fuel properly and supplement the Sheriff's Office budget appropriately so that we don't continue to have this issue," he said.
A chopper has been on the sheriff's wish list for some time.
In July, Deputy Chief Steve Henry told the state's Joint Border Security Advisory Committee that the fight against cartels was like "going to war" each day and that a helicopter is necessary to better track smugglers and conduct night operations. A small, fixed-wing airplane is currently being used for daytime surveillance.
Gaffney said there is no mechanism in place to track the number of times the office has asked other law-enforcement agencies for helicopter assistance, but that it "far exceeds 100 times per year."
Elliott is set to pick up the single-engine chopper next week from a broker near Austin, Texas. Capital Rotor Craft was the only one of 129 companies across the nation to respond to the county's bid invitation.
The bid sought one used, McDonnell Douglas 500E or similar helicopter with seating for at least four occupants. The craft could be no more than 25 years old, have no more than 8,000 hours in the air, no history of damage, and have been maintained according to manufacturer recommendations. Capital Rotor Craft met those specifications.
"The value of even one life saved in a rescue, or avoiding a fatal crash in a dangerous high-speed pursuit should be reason enough for the county to purchase a helicopter on its own," said Gaffney. "However, our legislature and Governor (Jan) Brewer realized our need and provided 100 percent of the funding to purchase this aircraft."
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