FARMINGTON – County commissioners voted unanimously to send a payment to the Board of Corrections’ Operations Support Fund today, minus the $50,000 in additional funds requested for the current fiscal year.
The $315,000 payment is $50,000 less than the BOC’s request of $365,000, which represents a $50,000 jump in the county’s annual contribution to the OSF, used to support the entire jail system. Paired with the next, anticipated request, the extra funds would equate to a $100,000 increase in the county’s annual contribution.
The county tax contribution to the jail was frozen at $1.6 million in 2009, as part of the state’s jail reorganization process, which included the creation of BOC and Franklin County’s full service jail becoming a 72-hour holding facility. A little less than $1 million of that $1.6 million goes toward covering the reduced operating budget of the jail, with $630,000 going into the BOC’s OSF. Most jails in Maine receive payments from the OSF to cover expenses; three counties, including Franklin, pay into the OSF instead of drawing from it.
On June 17, Commissioner Fred Hardy of New Sharon and Sheriff Scott Nichols went to the BOC in Augusta and received a request to contribute an additional $100,000 into the OSF, out of the county’s local reserve account. That account, which consists of savings garnered by the Franklin County Detention Center over the past four years, currently includes $400,000 in funds.
Hardy and Nichols refused to contribute the county jail’s reserves to the OSF, telling the BOC to produce legislation which allowed the agency to control jail reserve funds.
On June 19, Maine jail administrators received letters signed by BOC Chair Joel Merry, informing them of $1.2 million in reductions to their incoming OSF funding. Franklin County was informed that its required payment would increase from $630,000 to $730,000, annually. As the tax commitment remains capped at $1.6 million, the effective decrease to the operating budget would need to be covered by the reserve account.
Commissioners Hardy and Clyde Barker of Strong have balked at sending any additional funds to the BOC’s OSF and have requested a legal review of the increase. The county’s attorney, Frank Underkuffler, has advised that the source of the excess funding may determine its dispensation: if the result of the jail being downsized to a holding facility, then according to statute, the BOC was within its legal purview to utilize the funding for the state’s needs. But if the surplus revenue was instead a direct result of the county’s efficiency in running its detention center, then it should remain with the county.
The auditor is reviewing the jail’s budgetary history, although county officials are not confident that savings can be traced specifically to state or local initiatives.
Meanwhile, the county received the BOC’s request for the first half of its OSF payment. Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay, who has questioned whether it is in the county’s best interests to not pay the additional $100,000, given that the reserve account can only be used for jail expenses, made a motion to pay the full request of $365,000.
That motion died for lack of a second, with Barker then moving to send $315,000 instead. Hardy seconded the motion.
“What do you proposed to do with the extra $50,000 or $100,000?” McGrane asked, referring to the immediate and total annual requests, respectively.
“Keep it,” Hardy said.
McGrane said he was concerned that the BOC might decide to simply shut down the detention center entirely. He suggested that commissioners should work to change the law, rather than disobey it. The vote on Barker’s motion was unanimous, however.
Commissioners have set up new reserve accounts to earmark funding from the surplus account for its own corrections needs. The effort was suggested by an accountant as a way to protect the county’s surplus from BOC withdrawal. $150,000 was set aside for a new detention center roof, $40,000 for a new transport van and $20,000 was labeled for miscellaneous needs that might crop up.
Although the OSF arrangement seems unfair for our county, it also seems unwise to simply think that we can say no and draw a line in the sand. Mr. McGrane is correct: if you don’t like the law then change it. Imagine the consequences of everyone “opting out” of paying a bill or deciding what portion they will pay.
Impeach Commissioner McGrane!!! He seems to be the only one not standing up.
This decision will surely get someone’s attention in Augusta and I believe it’s an appropriate decision; but how does Sheriff Nichols feel?
JA- Are you crazy? McGrane is the only one with a brain on the county commission. He is following the law and preventing further trouble. The money in the budget can’t be used for anything else so why not pay the bill in full? I’d love to be able to go through my bills and dictate what I feel I should pay, rather than pay the full amount. If I did that, I’d have some services shut down or debt collectors after me and that’s exactly what’s going to happen to the county. They’re going to shut down the jail or get their money somehow, likely by cutting the funding our county jail gets from the BOC.
@ Rob S You going through your personal bills, acquired by your own means, is not the same as the increase being debated here that was forced upon the County’s checkbook. I would like to see more of this kind of action from the officials put in place “by the people”. This shows that our elected officials can indeed look out “for the people”. Thank you commissioners.
All the reasons aside, I fail to see how taxpayer money from Franklin County can be taken and used by another group in other counties. Are our taxes, assessed by the County, not for Franklin County services? I am not under any obligation to pay for services in other places, am I? Reduce taxes by this amount, we are being laundered.
Wonder how the deputies will like transporting arrestees far and away after the state shuts the jail down completely? Maine is a very large state;be prepared to do some lengthy driving.
I’m glad the county had finally stepped up to the plate and told the state No rather than letting them push us around. Somerset has been telling the state what to do for quite a while and they have been doing just fine.
@SaRGE- I don’t think this situation and my personal bills are any different. My cable bill keeps going up and up each month and when I look at the individual charges, I don’t think I need to pay for some of them. When I first signed up, it was going to be 69.99/month. The $6 charge for each cable box, lease on the internet modem fee, etc. are all things I don’t believe I should have to pay for. This month’s bill was up to $86, $5 more than last month. Cable company didn’t notify me why my bill went up or that it was even going up. At least the BOC has told the county they want to reform the jail system and I believe they have good intentions of doing so and in the long run it will probably save us money. That’s the reasoning for the increase. Republicans don’t want to invest any money in anything and that’s why our road, bridges, schools, etc. are all falling apart. Let someone else pay for it.
Let us all remember that the State set the benchmark rate for payments to the State system. Franklin County has always been frugal. The County, I believe, is not compensated for the transportation of prisoners to another County Jail, pick them up and return them for a hearing and or court, and then transport them after sentencing. This takes deputies off the road at times.
We were promised by the state that the amount we had to pay would not fluctuate. if saving money means you loose it to others who can not meet their budgets we should not be saving money. Spending more money does not fit with Franklin County unless there is reason to.
The State has cut Revenue Sharing that was actual law and communities are paying the price with less and less revenue. Thank-you Commissioners Barker and Hardy
Changing the law – ha! The Sheriff and several others TRIED to get the BOC to listen to them nearly a year ago. People wrote letters; citizens attended meetings. BOC basically contains a bunch of self-serving people with “deaf ears”. They wouldn’t allow Franklin County to take back their jail; they wanted OUR MONEY. Now they want more of OUR MONEY. The BOC strung the folks from Franklin County along, giving approval for the building to be used as a full service jail again, then stopping it cold. Guess all the crooks aren’t in Washington.