ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ

ST. LOUIS — The new city sheriff, besieged by controversy and budget problems, is once again drawing scrutiny over his office’s purchases. This time it’s a new SUV.

Sheriff Alfred Montgomery, whose predecessor drove a 2018 Chevrolet Impala, is getting a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe.

Tahoes — about $23,000 more than a baseline Impala would have cost new — putting them on the higher end of Chevy’s lineup. They sport V-8 engines, an array of modern technology and an endorsement from as a “behemoth with plenty of room for hauling people and cargo.�

It’s also the latest mark against Montgomery for officials already concerned by the controversy and spending issues in the office, which is on track to overspend its budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars this year.

Officials say it’s too late to fix the deficit by the end of fiscal year, June 30, so money unspent in other departments will have to cover it instead.

“I think there’s a pattern here,� said Alderman Michael Browning, “of a lack of accountability.�

Jack Gieseke, a spokesman for the sheriff, on Thursday confirmed the purchase and dismissed any complaints.

He did not say what the office paid for the vehicle. But he said the money was coming from the sheriff’s discretionary funds, not general tax revenue. And even if the money could be spent to cover some of the deficit, he said, that’s Montgomery’s decision to make.

“It’s his prerogative,� Gieseke said.

Since taking office in January, Montgomery, 28, has been investigated for ordering the handcuffing of a top jail official, sued after telling a deputy to roll golden dice for his job and criticized for having a deputy .

But his financial decisions, and the resulting budget deficit, have drawn the most attention recently.

Montgomery helped create much of it himself, by pushing out more than a dozen senior officials who served under his predecessor, a move that required the city to pay nearly a half-million dollars in leave.

Then he piled on, hiring high-profile lobbyists and purchasing $12,000 worth of used golf carts.

And when officials started denying some new budget requests last month, he threatened to stop transporting city jail detainees to hospitals when they need it, a longtime duty of the city sheriff.

Mayor Cara Spencer and aldermen were not happy, and said so. At a hearing Monday, Montgomery rescinded the threat.

But when aldermen pressed him further on the deficit, Montgomery, who is Black, suggested the grilling was racially motivated. Spencer, who is white, oversaw some turnover when she took office in April, he said. What, he asked, was the difference?

Gieseke also brought up the mayor Thursday regarding the Tahoe, pointing out that the mayor is driven around in one of the big SUVs.

“He’s trying to be consistent,� he said of his boss.

Spencer rejected both comparisons.

She said mayor’s office staffers who left when she came into office in April were not paid out like the sheriff staffers were. Plus, the mayor’s office is under budget for the year.

And what about Montgomery getting the same car as her?

“I think he’s misunderstanding what his role and responsibility is,� Spencer said.