Background
Earlier this year, a power surge at the jail damaged electrical systems and contributed to a cascade of issues including cell doors that don’t close.
These issues in turn have added additional manpower needs for a department already facing staffing shortages.
It being the one job of the jail to detain individuals, the county had to respond.
Emergency repairs and other maintenance issues continue to arise at the jail, which is showing its age on top of evidently being designed by a moron. So far the total repairs are estimated to cost $16 million.
Funding options
Maintenance at the jail is typically funded in a blended way, with larger capital expenses covered by the county’s CIP budget and routine maintenance issues drawing from the Sheriff’s operating budget.
The current repairs, arising from an emergency, were not included in the FY25 CIP budget, and the cost is much larger than the Sheriff’s operating budget can absorb.
Budget battle
The Sheriff’s request was for federal ARP funds previously assigned to build a mental health jail be reassigned to the emergency repairs.
Commissioner Amber Mills sponsored a resolution to that effect, but in committee a majority of the board supported an alternative “compromise” devised by the Mayor’s administration and sponsored by Commissioner Charlie Caswell.
Because the Sheriff’s budget has not been fully exhausted in recent years, the mayor’s administration points to that historical underspending as one of three funding sources for the repairs in the “compromise” resolution.
Common misconception
Let’s pause here to correct a misconception. Funds that are unspent by the Sheriff, or any other department, are not “retained” by the Sheriff. It simply benefits the county’s general fund balance incorporated into the next fiscal year.
In other words, the sheriff is not a dragon sitting atop a secret mound of gold coins.
The sheriff gets a new budget each year, use it on lose it.
The “compromise”
For those interested in the finer details of the plan supported by the mayor’s administration and a majority of the county commission, here’s how it shakes out.
1.The Sheriff’s budget would cover a third of the expenses.
2.Another third would pull from another CIP project (a software implementation) causing it to be pushed out a year.
3.The balance would (at least temporarily) come from the mental health jail’s allocation. Allegedly this project will be made whole later, pending actions related to the Regional One rebuild.
How I voted
In committee, I supported the Bonner/Mills plan, to fund the entire $16 million.
That plan failed to secure a majority, so in the full commission meeting I supported the $10 million alternative.
As I see it, $10 million is better than nothing. But most of the commissioners supporting the original plan voted no, and I’m not completely sure why.