Bad news a couple of weeks ago about possible layoffs and housing pod reductions has since turned into good news for Two Bridges Regional Jail with additional revenue sources, some from the state.
Correctional Administrator Mark Westrum reported Monday the multi-county Jail Authority has extended the maximum number of state prisoners it would take from 23 to 60 thereby expanding its revenue along with other budgetary measures, including some cuts to forestall a serious budget shortfall.
“We’re not facing any layoffs now, and we’re not going to be closing any pods,” he said.
Westrum had announced at the authority’s monthly meeting on Dec. 10 that the jail’s finances were such that almost immediate layoffs of eight to nine corrections officers and closure of couple of pods would be necessary to adjust to a budget shortfall. He had even spoken to the staff before the meeting to alert them of the dim prospect.
At that time, he told the authority unless the state comes through with additional funding, the jail would have to cut back on the number of boarders it could take from other jails and elsewhere.
With the prospect of $400,000 in carry forward funds that state statute allows the jail to draw from for operating costs, the fiscal status of the jail turns out even rosier, plus a good possibility of more federal inmates to fill the hole, according to Westrum’s view of the situation now. The jail did not hire the number of staff it had originally budgeted for, which accounts for a lot of the total, he said.
Certain budget cuts he and the authority have recommended add to the better status of things financially as well, according to Westrum.
Also, the possibility still exists of the Maine Legislature giving Two Bridges a slice of the $1.5 million in state funds available to help counties having fiscal problems with jail operations. “We’re hoping to get a certain amount to help,” he said.
On Dec. 10, the newly-formed Maine Board of Corrections under new legislation gave the jail the highest rating possible for a jail but at the same time submitted a somewhat negative outlook for state funding in 2009.
Although Westrum expressed his elation at the new assessment of the jail’s fiscal stability, he previously expressed a willingness to do whatever was necessary to meet the challenge of the impact of the state shortfall on the jail.
“If we have to lay off eight positions, that will be tight, but we’re going to have to make it work,” he said during the Dec. 10 board session.
One of the pods under consideration for closure was a female housing unit.
Also during that meeting, he said the authority and he would have to be working more closely with the finance subcommittee and other subcommittees. He recommended taking no more inmates from the state.
Earlier last year, the authority had decided to limit the number of state inmates it would take in noting the difficulty the jail experienced in assimilating them into Two Bridges unique milieu, which allows fewer privileges some of them experienced through the state Dept. of Corrections.
The financial problems the jail has experienced changed board members’ views, making them more receptive to the notion of more prisoners from the state that most likely would still continue to be low risk types with the jail having the right of refusal for any one prisoner.
Sagadahoc County Administrator Pamela Corrigan assured the authority members last month her commissioner’s board intends to support the jail in its efforts to persuade the Maine Board of Corrections to allocate state funds to make the Two Bridges budget whole by the end of the fiscal year 2008-09.
She also informed the board, “The Board of Commissioners feel that it is only fair to tell the authority that the county will not be in a position at the end of this budget year to provide any ‘bail-out’ funds should they be necessary.”
