Washington County Jail Officials Request More Money Under Tight Budget

FAYETTEVILLE -- Washington County will have to raise sales taxes or sharply cut county services to cover ballooning costs at the crowded county jail next year, officials said Monday.

A clogged state prison system during the past year has left the Washington County Detention Center filled with hundreds of state inmates waiting for transfer. The accompanying rise in food and medical costs could mean a budget increase of more than $500,000 for next year, jail officials told the Quorum Court during Monday's budget meeting.

Meeting Information

Washington County Quorum Court

2015 Budget Process

When: 5:30 p.m. today

Where: Quorum Courtroom in the County Courthouse, 280 N. College Ave., Fayetteville

On the agenda: Budget requests from the Road Department, animal shelter and other departments.

Such an increase would push the jail's budget above $13 million for the first time, prompting strong concern from the panel's justices of the peace.

"We cannot afford this every year, period," said Eva Madison, a Democrat from Fayetteville. "We're going to absolutely wipe out our reserves."

The jail consistently has housed roughly 600 men and women for most of the past 12 months, with 614 reported on its roster Monday evening. Almost 230 of those people were state inmates waiting for transfer to a state prison, up 36 percent just since July. The state has begun looking for possible locations for a 1,000-bed prison to help alleviate the problem.

The jail has 710 beds, but Sheriff Tim Helder and other officials have said the facility is holding as many as it practically can. Violence among inmates and against guards has gone up significantly, they've said.

The high population also has led to higher costs across the board. Medicine for inmates this year is expected to cost double what it did in 2011. Other medical expenses, such as hospital stays, are on track to cost $500,000 this year, triple what was budgeted, and more will be needed for the jail's new medical provider. Helder also is requesting $830,000 for food, up one-third from this year.

Adding to the trouble, all of these increases come after County Treasurer Roger Haney earlier this month projected revenues would dip about 10 percent next year. The quarter-cent sales tax that sustains the jail was one of the few revenue sources Haney forecast would go up, but even the higher amount isn't enough to cover what the sheriff requested Monday.

The jail's needs must be paid, the justices of the peace said, meaning something is going to have to make up the difference. Ann Harbison, a Democrat from West Fork, raised the possibility of raising taxes, either with another quarter-cent sales tax or a slightly higher property tax. Fellow Democrat Barbara Fitzpatrick of Fayetteville also voiced the option at an earlier budget meeting.

"I hope that our jail population starts going down, but it's not going to," Harbison said, prompting nods among the jail officials. "I know nobody likes it (a tax increase), but I don't see any other alternative."

Madison and several Republicans vehemently opposed the idea, saying the panel must look for cuts elsewhere. Department budget requests for 2015 will continue for several weeks.

"I can't even contemplate even discussing tax increases until this body comes in with its own red pens," Madison said, referring to the color of budget cuts in county documents. "We've got to work harder. We can't approve every request that comes through."

NW News on 09/16/2014

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