To the Editor:

In reference to Tom White’s letter to the editor [of Aug. 30] with questions here are the answers. When I was telephone-interviewed, I told the reporter that I didn’t have that figure with me at the time. I made a lump sum payment back to VRS. When you are injured on the job and a work-related disability claim is approved, VRS allows you to work another job and still receive disability as long as the new job is not part of the VRS system and as long as you cannot perform the job you were hired to do.

As far as my “erroneous” figures, I’m basing those on the fact that in FY 2012 the budget for uniforms was $20,000, but the actual amount spent was $112,251. That’s over by $92,251.

Equipment/Machinery budget was $7,500, and the actual amount spent was $99,032, over by $91,532. When you add up all the line items over budget for FY 2012 they were over by $294,320. In FY 2013, they were over by $229,106; in FY 2014, over by $117,965; and in FY 2015, over by $53,223. When adding these four years up, you have a total of $694,614 over. These are the figures I received from our county Budget and Finance Dept.

As far as the Sheriff’s Office returning money back to the county, I would certainly hope so since their budget in FY 2012 was $3,189,447 and in FY 2015 in jumped to $3,878,126 and for FY 2016 it’s gone to $3,936,208.

We should always strive to make the Sheriff’s Office better in all areas. If you’re not moving forward you’re going backwards. I will be taking the Sheriff’s Office to a new higher level of protection and service to our citizens!

Russell Stephenson
Windsor