In the Lincoln County Budget Advisory Committee’s third meeting Thursday, Oct. 22, a nearly full committee approved the budgets of the sheriff’s office, emergency management agency, communications center, jail transport, and court security. The budgets collectively account for $4,793,177 of the county’s projected $11,087,169 expenditure budget for 2016.
The questions posed by the committee and the discussions that occurred, especially surrounding court security, were the most in-depth Sheriff Todd Brackett could remember in his 13 years in presenting the budgets, he said.
Selectmen continued to express frustration over the county tax levied on their municipalities and questioned the impact their feedback would have on the county budget, which will ultimately be decided by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners in December.
With union contracts for the bargaining units at the sheriff’s office and communications center expiring Dec. 31 and a new union formed by communications center supervisors, union negotiations have the power to alter the budgets presented to the budget advisory committee, County Administrator John O’Connell said.
Figures related to salaries and benefits, which already account for the lion’s share of the county budget, will be subject to change based on the negotiations. A 2 percent cost-of-living increase was included in the budgets of the sheriff’s office and communications center as a placeholder for any salary increases negotiated by the unions, O’Connell said.
The county will rely on its reserve account for salary adjustments to cover any shortfalls created by a new union contract. Damariscotta Selectman Robin Mayer said there would be no cost-of-living increase from the Social Security Administration in the coming year and many of her town’s elderly residents, on fixed incomes, are already struggling to pay their tax bills.
Committee members pointed to the health care coverage offered to union members as a focal point for negotiations. Despite a new health plan with reduced coverage, which saved the county $150,000 in 2015, committee members in attendance at the Oct. 8 meeting balked at the cost of health insurance in county department budgets.
Health insurance accounts for more than $1 million of the county’s budget, O’Connell wrote in a memo, and the county has been told to expect a 10 percent increase from the provider. Currently, the county pays the full amount for single health care coverage, which is $7,000, for both union and non-union employees.
The county covers 85 percent of the family plan, which is $18,000, for union members. The county pays 97 percent of the family plan for non-union employees in an effort to balance the wages and benefits package offered to non-union members, O’Connell said.
In presenting the budget for district and superior court security, Brackett was grilled by committee members over the county’s decision to provide security to the courts. Committee members questioned why security coverage is not handed over to the state, which reimburses the county for the service.
Only three counties in the state continue to provide court security, Brackett said, but it is not something he wants to change. Court security offered by the state is only provided to judges and does not extend to the probate court, which handles contentious custody disputes, divorces, and estate issues.
With county offices in the same building as the courts, full-time security coverage is critical to the safety of county employees, Brackett said. After the state reimbursement, the cost to the county for full-time security is approximately $15,000, Brackett said. “It’s pretty good bang for your buck,” he said.
Due to a personnel change, Brackett was able to present a reduced jail transport budget, which includes the cost of programming, to the committee. The reduced budget included an increase to the sheriff’s office’s contract with the Addiction Resource Center, an intensive addiction outreach and recovery program that has had a notable impact on participants’ recidivism rates, Brackett said.
The jail transport program budget passed with several committee members expressing support for the programming.
The sheriff’s office’s 2015 budget never garnered approval from the budget committee, which requested a reduction Brackett did not make. Commissioners’ approval of the 2015 budget was one of the few areas where commissioners deviated from the recommendations of the budget committee.
The sheriff’s office’s $2,751,556 request for 2016, a reduction of $5,686 from the previous budget of $2,757,526, passed in its first presentation to the committee. Despite a new line item for retirement contributions, the sheriff’s office was able to reduce its budget due to cost savings associated with the retirement of longtime employee Sgt. Dan Sceviour.
Mayer questioned the amount of time personnel spend teaching classes at the criminal justice academy, which is one of the driving forces of overtime at the department. According to Brackett, the courses taught by sheriff’s office employees at the academy reduce the cost of training for the entire department. The budget passed with limited debate.
The communications center budget request of $1,264,262, an $82,704 increase from the previous year’s budget of $1,181,558, passed. However, several selectmen questioned the dispatch services provided by the communications center to towns outside Lincoln County.
The communications center currently dispatches for the fire departments in four towns in Kennebec County for $43,000 a year. With a new contract in the works to dispatch for Gardiner police and fire departments, committee members questioned whether their county tax bills were subsidizing dispatch services for outside counties.
Committee members expressed fear the communications center would have to add personnel to handle the increase in calls and the communications center budget would continue to rise. Director Tod Hartung does not expect to need additional dispatchers to handle the increased call volume if Gardiner enters into a contract with the communications center.
Fear the communications center was looking to expand its staff was partly responsible for the rejection of the emergency management agency and communications center reserve account request of $110,000 for 2016, a $60,000 increase from the previous year’s reserve account appropriation of $50,000.
According to Hartung, a proposed project to close off the garage area in the communications center building and transform it into office space for EMA staff currently located in a converted closet, kitchen, and cubicle, was partly driving the increase.
Some selectmen expressed suspicion the project was a pretext for a communications center plan to add staff, and the reserve account request was voted down.
Wiscasset Selectman Ben Rines asked what effect the no votes from the budget committee would have on the county budget. According to O’Connell, commissioners look to the budget advisory committee for advice and guidance and a simple no vote is “no help.”
The budget committee agreed to meet again to review the budgets they rejected and work with the county to identify areas of savings to prevent a further increase to municipalities’ county tax bill.
“I know you heard the message,” Chair Chester Rice said. “The towns have had just about all they can take.”
