Washington County Road, Jail Take Hit In Finances

— A backlog of state inmates and winter weather dealt a tough hand for two Washington County departments in January, officials said Tuesday evening.

Treasurer Roger Haney told the Quorum Court’s Finance Committee he transferred $800,000 to the Washington County Detention Center, or almost one-fourth of the jail’s $3.3 million reserve for the year.

Haney echoed what has become a constant refrain from the Sheriff’s Office: There are too many state inmates in the jail, prisoners who would go to state prisons if the state had the room and money to hold them. Of the jail’s 600 or so inmates, more than one-third are part of the state backlog.

“The state’s behind on paying for those,” Haney told the assembled justices of the peace. “The same is true in every county.”

Arkansas Department of Correction officials have said they’re aware of the trouble and are pushing for a solution during the legislature’s fiscal session that began this week.

The Road Department also took a heavy hit in January because of winter weather, Haney said. About $1.4 million was spent mostly in response to ice and snow, or 14 percent of the department’s $10.35 million budget for the year.

Justice of the Peace Harvey Bowman asked whether winter weather also hurt sales taxes that sustain the jail and other departments. Haney conceded the possibility but said the impact wouldn’t show itself for a couple of months.

Revenue from the county’s 1-cent and quarter-cent sales taxes were about even with January a year ago, totalling about $1.13 million. The county’s general fund for most departments fell $3 million, but its reserves still stood at $24.3 million at January’s end.

“Revenue in January is never as strong as it is in other months,” Haney said. “But the general (fund) still has a good balance.”

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