Change will cost Kanawha $160,000 more each year
By CARA BAILEY, DAILY MAIL STAFF
Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County’s budget encountered another strain in an already financially challenging year after the Regional Jail Authority voted to raise the amount needed by the counties to house each inmate per day.
In a move that will cost Kanawha County about $160,000 more annually, the authority raised the per diem from $47.53 to $48.25, which is a raise of 72 cents per inmate, per day. The change takes effect July 1, 2009.
Commission President Kent Carper said the rate increase might be necessary, but the state needs to help alleviate some of the financial stress that counties are placed under.
“The fact that they’ve raised rates I don’t like, but I understand it,” Carper said. “We’re going out of the business of providing necessary services because all we can do is pay the jail bill.”
The county has made several moves in recent weeks to try to relieve budgetary stress.
Commissioners have been trying to figure out about $10 million in give in their budget to pay for renovations to the old Appalachian Power Co. building on Virginia Street. And at their most recent meeting, commissioners agreed to withhold raises from commission employees this year. At that same meeting, county officials were also asked to voluntarily watch their spending and try to save 20 percent of their discretionary budget.
The swelling bill will only add to the pressure.
Kanawha County currently contributes $350,000 a month to the South Central Regional Jail, which also detains inmates from Jackson County. That number has more than doubled in 10 years, with the monthly price tag during the 1999-2000 fiscal year averaging about $172,029.
The rate increase this year is because of higher PEIA premiums and an expected increase in utility costs. However, the cost is still lower than two years ago, when the jail authority needed $48.50 a day to house an inmate. The price decreased last year to the current rate of $47.53.
The money is used to feed, clothe, exercise and provide medical services to the inmates.
Joe Thornton, the deputy secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety, said the jail authority tried to cut other expenses and hold back on some maintenance that is needed, but is not dire at the moment, in an effort to save money before issuing the increase.
“I know counties struggle with the regional jail bill, but we continue to do everything we can to keep cost to a minimum,” Thornton said. “There has been some thought that we need to increase the maintenance fund, but again, there is a desire to try to keep costs down for the counties.”
While the regional jail bill seems like a lot of money, Thornton said West Virginia’s rates are continually one of the lowest in the country. Also, the counties are saving money under the regional jail system, compared to the past when every county had its own jail.
Carper said he is an advocate for the regional jail system, which he calls an example of consolidated costs. However, he said the county needs the Legislature to allocate more funds to help the counties pay the jail bill, while at the same time, those counties work to raise more money.
“Do counties need relief from the state? Yes,” Carper said. “At the same time, we’ve got a responsibility to raise revenue to pay the cost of protecting the public by keeping those in jail who belong in jail.”
The jail bill has leveled off in recent years, staying around the $350,000 mark since 2006. David Fontalbert, Kanawha County’s chief fiscal officer, said one of the reasons it has stayed level is because of the day report and home confinement systems, which get those convicted of a crime into an alternative treatment plan.
Kanawha County is also working on a drug court, which would be another option in keeping the prison population down.
“We just don’t want to see this balloon out of hand like it did from 2000 to 2006,” Fontalbert said. “We couldn’t afford that, so alternative methods are critical.”
Copyright 2009 Charleston Newspapers