Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood took to social media this week to blast the county chair amid discussions over the local budget.
On Facebook, Chitwood wrote that County Chair Jeff Brower wants to cut millions of dollars from the sheriff’s office’s budget, which was introduced at a flat level — “no increase from last year.”
“Our ‘Defund the Police’ County Chair is showing his true colors,” the social post reads. “Jeff Brower pretends to support law enforcement because politically, he has to say those empty words.”
While Chitwood stated that he wants tax relief for residents, he asserted that the budget cuts aren’t “how you accomplish it.”
“Jeff clearly doesn’t want to talk to us, so we’re going to come see him,” the post continues.
As such, Chitwood announced that he and other deputies will attend the Volusia County Council meeting in DeLand at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, where the budget cuts are expected to be discussed.
“Then Jeff can look us in the face while he pitches his latest bright idea to Defund the Police in Volusia County,” Chitwood concluded.
News 6 has reached out to Brower for comment on Chitwood’s statement. Below is his response:
“This is not a last-minute request from me. Every year I call for a 5-10% reduction in spending. Homeowners are struggling to keep their homes. This year in January I said we need to go to rollback. We have always held first responders harmless in budget reductions.
As we anticipate the budget if Amendment 3 passes, we can no longer do that.
However, if we just go to rollback in each of our county funds, they will actually receive more money than they did in 2026 because of growth and new properties being taxed. The Sheriff’s budget has grown by $39,821,697 since 2024. That is a 30% increase.
I am simply asking every one of our funds to go to a rollback rate that would still allow them to collect more money than they did last year but holds taxpayers harmless. That means property owners would not pay more than they did last year.
In the case of the sheriff’s budget, instead of collection $9,592,432 more this year he would collect $5,581,819 MORE this year. So, it is not accurate for him to say I am cutting millions for Law Enforcement. I am supporting LEO, once again this year, with an almost $6 Million increase.
Voters will not tolerate Counties and cities passing along a tax increase this year . If we do, Amendment 3 passes and then we are not looking at a tiny 3% spending reduction. We would be deciding how many people and programs we had to cut.”
Volusia County Chair Jeff Brower