Sheriff and deputies have words with commissioners over unpaid cruiser lease bill (VIDEO)

The Lorain County Sheriff's Office paid a $57,000 bill from Enterprise on Thursday, avoiding default on a lease payment and the threat that the the leasing company would repossess more than half of its fleet of police cruisers. The announcement followed a day of blame games between elected county officials over budgets, responsibilities and spending. The Sheriff's Office on Wednesday received a notice of default from Enterprise Fleet Management dated Feb. 2 that said the county had to pay $57,031 no later than Feb. 9 or the company would take action. Sheriff Jack Hall said Enterprise could have repossessed 41 of his cruisers and billed him the cost of doing so. "We will make the payment today," he said during a press conference Thursday at his office. Hall said the issue involved ongoing disagreements between county commissioners and other elected officials, himself and county Auditor Craig Snodgrass included. Commissioners called it a "manufactured issue." They fired back at Hall, saying it is up to him to pay his bills, and at his deputies union for allegedly putting out "false information" on the matter Wednesday night. "We're not gonna let this one go," Commissioner Jeff Riddell said late Thursday. Hall "can blow smoke up everyone's ass all he wants. We've had enough of Jack Hall. He can build his empire in some other county." The county signed a contract with Enterprise in 2023 to lease fleet vehicles. At the time, County Administrator Jeff Armbruster said a similar program saved North Ridgeville money when he was safety service director there. The program expanded to include sheriff's cruisers, which sheriff's officials said wear out quickly from frequent use. Prior to the Enterprise agreement, the county had been replacing approximately eight to 10 cruisers per year when they became too expensive to fix. Each time it did so, it cost $500,000 or more to purchase and outfit them, with delivery taking months. Deputies speak out The Lorain County Deputies Association, the road deputies union, also criticized commissioners in a news release late Wednesday. Chief Deputy Tanya Czack explained the issue to deputies in an email earlier in the day, declaring it "a direct result" of a budget dispute between the commissioners and Snodgrass. "The delay in payment is now affecting our ability to operate and the sheriff is doing his best to address it," she wrote, telling deputies to remove all personal equipment from their cruisers by Sunday night. The Deputies Association statement released late Wednesday night mockingly referred to commissioners as "the 'good stewards' of taxpayers' money." "How can we efficiently provide safety services to our residents? Are the commissioners going to offer us rides to the next call for service? Their decisions have put the Lorain County population at risk," the statement read. Hall's administration is "a supportive administration, but the commissioners' ineptitude has cost us our equipment, and your safety," the letter read, with the union further alleging that politics had taken precedence over public safety. "The commissioners continue to adversely affect our safety and yours over their personal agendas. We ask that you remember this, at least we can say that we are doing our best," the deputies association said. "I'm not sure they can say the same." The last line of the letter read: "PS. Does anyone have contact details for Uber?" Commissioners respond In a news release, commissioners said the information the deputies union shared was "false." "This manufactured crisis stated that the commissioners defaulted on the county's vehicle fleet lease with Enterprise Fleet Management and that 41 police cruisers were set to be repossessed," they said. Commissioners said as soon as they were made aware of the issue, Deputy County Administrator Karen Perkins had a brief call with Enterprise Fleet Management "to confirm the vehicles in question were not going to be repossessed, nor were they ever going to be." Hall "is an elected official and is responsible for the management and payments for their department," commissioners said, and his office "is responsible for processing their own invoices, including Enterprise Fleet Management. The Sheriff's Office did not pay the full invoice of $13,583.81 by December 2025, which generated an automated notice of default." Hall has $346,000 in his equipment lease account, commissioners said, which is more than enough to pay the $57,000 bill. Hall press conference Prior to resolving the matter with Enterprise, Hall said he and his staff were trying to figure out how how to divide the remaining fleet among on-duty deputies to respond to emergency calls in areas the Sheriff's Office patrols. He said he was also considering letting deputies use their personal vehicles if insurance rules would allow it. At a news conference at his office in Elyria, Hall disputed with what commissioners said in their news release. "What we received yesterday was a letter from Enterprise which was a notice of default," he said. "This was an order that they were repossessing our vehicles if we did not pay them by Monday, Feb. 9." The fleet management program is run through the commissioners' office. Hall said his original $600,000 budget line item for that program for 2026 was slashed by commissioners to $346,000 after budget discussions "without our knowledge." Riddell disputed that account, saying Hall and his staff were directed to cut the sheriff's budget by $1.5 million for 2026, but weren't told how they had to do so. As for the $13,583 balance the Sheriff's Office owed Enterprise at end of 2025, Hall said his office came to an agreement with Enterprise to pay that in full last month. "We have done our due diligence. My office has been frugal. My office has been responsible," Hall said, adding that he has "disdain" for commissioners' statements to the contrary. Hall said he has done everything to fit within his budget restrictions. He said getting a notice of default is "not a manufactured crisis" and that county officials need to communicate better. "This is not the fault of the Lorain County Sheriff's Office," he said. "This is three elected officials that have a problem getting along with many other elected officials." Auditor speaks out Snodgrass said Thursday that the paperwork authorizing the payment to Enterprise didn't reach his office until Wednesday, the same day the Sheriff's Office sought his help to make it. "So that's when we were first put on notice ourselves," Snodgrass said. "We did what we try to do, we tried to help." A purchase order was approved and the checks were cut, he said. Facing a 30 percent budget cut in 2026 that has forced him to close his Elyria office on Fridays starting today, Snodgrass said cuts to his budget harm the public but the missed lease payment "certainly puts the public at risk if these cars get repossessed." Snodgrass is a Democrat running for reelection this year and has no primary challenger. Republican Elaine Seguin, also unchallenged in the May primary, is his presumptive opponent in November. Riddell said commissioners had no role in approving or paying the lease payment. That's entirely up to Hall and his office, he said. "We don't dictate what's in each line item. We may ask questions, but at the end of the day the budget we approve comes from the sheriff," he said. "We cut him $1.5 million and it was up to him where it came from. We left it at that. He knew it was cut." Hall said county residents "deserve a mature approach" from their officials and apologized to the public for the lease payment dispute. "I expect service to the Lorain County community from all our elected officials and the agencies they lead. We do our jobs diligently at the Lorain County Sheriff's Office and expect other offices to do the same," Hall told The Chronicle on Thursday. "The facts and audit trail demonstrate this office has fulfilled that service." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com