Anoka County has no money in this year’s budget to spare for new police equipment. In a meeting held Thursday afternoon between Sheriff Gus Dicesari and Anoka County commissioners, Dicesari requested a budget increase that would allow him to buy eight new police cruisers as well as additional funding to hire five new sheriff deputies. The request was quickly denied by Commission President Anne Chen. Chen explained that Anoka County did not have the $580,000 to support these purchases.

The Debate over county spending grew when commission members had split opinions on the matter. Commissioners Vallerie Dawkins, Faith Ellis, Jose Gardos and Roland Grauman all agreed with Chen, while Anita Shenuski and Raymond Laybourne supported Dicesari.

Dicesari thought that the county was “shortchanging” the sheriff’s department while Shenuski and Laybourne believed that additional funding was being wasted on programs for migrant workers. “We never had problems until we began letting migrants come to the Anoka to work. They are a problem for our law enforcement, our schools and our healthcare system” Spouted Shenuski. Chen dismissed the notion that immigrants were the problem. Anoka county commissioners estimate that there are 5,000 migrant families in the county working in agriculture, construction and industry jobs.

Gardez pointed out that many of these immigrants become permanent members of the community and help boost its economy by opening businesses, paying taxes and eventually earning their citizenship.

Regardless of the dispute over immigrant workers, Dicesari redirected the meeting back to the counties budget crisis claiming “This is the first time in my 27 years as a sheriff that Anoka County hasn’t allocated money to the sheriff’s department to buy equipment.”

Anoka County’s budget for this year was $127 million; Chen reassured that this year’s shortcomings had nothing to do with migrant workers. Instead the budget was affected by the rising costs of fuel and healthcare, as well as the $30 million used to build the new prison.

The meeting ended with a final vote that was 5-2 against Dicesari’s request for additional funding. President Chen stated that for the remainder of the year the sheriff’s department would have to make due with the resources they already had.