Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines has sent out the final proposal for a new jail-funding contract with the county's five biggest cities, including a 5 percent immediate increase in payments in the first year and a consumer price index factor limited to 3 percent for the next four years.

Mayors negotiated to get the contract down from 10 years to five and to change an earlier proposed 3 percent inflation factor to a consumer price index adjustment instead. Each city would enter into a separate contract with the county.

The mayors of Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville and Maumelle have yet to sign anything but have agreed to submit some amended language to the county's proposal.

The language doesn't make substantial changes to the contract, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said, but it clears up parts of the contract that were vague, such as which consumer price index the county would base future city payments on.

"All five of the cities are in agreement that the language I'm going to be sending back over to them is what we desire," Stodola said. "I cannot speak for the cities on whether they're going to sign."

Cities, which altogether pay about $2.9 million under the current contract, would pay a little more than $3 million next year. The jail costs about $25 million to run this year.

Little Rock would pay $88,313 more in 2015; North Little Rock would pay $37,988 more; Sherwood would pay $6,352 more; Jacksonville would pay $9,575 more; and Maumelle would pay $2,440 more.

The costs after 2015 would depend on changes in the consumer price index.

North Little Rock, Jacksonville and Maumelle all dug into reserves to finance their budgets this year. Pulaski County, Little Rock and Sherwood did not.

Villines said he believes some mayors are ready to sign.

Stodola said some cities were still disappointed with some aspects of the county's proposed contract, however.

He noted that cities still would each effectively pay a different amount per person arrested under the contract -- which is not based per person arrested or on city population -- when dividing each city's contribution by the number of people charged by its police in 2013.

The current contract was based on how much each city was paying to operate its own jail before each closed up shop and agreed to use the county jail instead. The new contract is based on the current contract's contributions.

Even so, Stodola said he isn't happy that his city would effectively pay $209.08 per inmate next year, if Little Rock police charge the same number of people in 2015 that they did in 2013, while Sherwood would pay only $57.72 per inmate, if its Police Department charges the same number of people it did in 2013.

Jacksonville Mayor Gary Fletcher has expressed discontent with paying a higher amount than what Sherwood pays, because Sherwood has now eclipsed Jacksonville in population.

"I can't address that," Villines said.

"Our budget is based on the total amount we now get from the cities," he added. Villines said if one city wanted its payments to go down, other cities would have to pay more.

Stodola said Villines is not giving mayors enough time to come up with a solution that would address what he called an inequity among the cities.

The county and mayors have been discussing a new contract since January.

North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith said his city's legal department is looking over the contract and will likely discuss it with him Monday, including whether attorneys believe the city should include the language tweaks that mayors came up with Thursday.

Smith said the fairness of the amounts that cities are paying is worth looking into, but he's still preparing to go before the City Council at the end of the month for approval of a new contract.

"The 5 percent, the CPI and the five years is fine with me," he said.

The new contract would replace a 20-year-old deal expiring Aug. 1.

The current contract was established in 1990 but went into effect Aug. 1, 1994, when the Pulaski County jail opened up for 624 inmates at a budgeted cost of $8 million to operate, including one-time transition costs.

The jail has nearly doubled in size since then, with the county and its five largest cities paying greater amounts to cover the cost. The county's costs have increased more, which Villines has argued justifies the increase in payments requested from the cities.

In 1994, the cities paid $1.6 million. They now pay $2.9 million, plus remittance of district court fines, of which Little Rock paid more than $400,000 last year.

The county received more than $2.1 million from the federal government through its contract with the U.S. Marshals Service of $75 per inmate per day. The jail holds 80 federal prisoners each day.

The county also received more than $1.2 million from the state last year for holding state inmates at a rate of $28 per inmate per day rate.

The county has estimated the actual cost of holding each inmate is $43.52, including medical costs, which the state pays only after 30 days.

The state established the $28 reimbursement rate for all county jails in 2001, a $3 increase from 1991. From 1985 to 1991, the Board of Corrections used varying rates for reimbursements based on costs submitted by each county, up to $18 per day, according to the Association of Arkansas Counties.

The latest inmate cost report indicates that the actual cost of holding an inmate in county jails is much higher than the $28 rate at many county jails across the state.

Stodola said he plans to lobby for a higher reimbursement rate from the state during next spring's legislative session.

But Villines and Pulaski County Sheriff Doc Holladay remain skeptical that the state Legislature will pass a significant increase for county jails next spring.

Metro on 07/12/2014