By Steve Sherlock
Sun Journal
AUBURN — Androscoggin County commissioners stressed Wednesday that they are not in favor of regaining control of the county jail if state funding is cut off.
The county is facing a funding crisis if the Legislature and Gov. Paul LePage decide to end the state consolidation of the county jails and dismantle the Board of Corrections, which has been in place since 2008, and also wipe out the state funding that helps supplement the county budget.
In Androscoggin County, the state provides $2 million to help fund the jail.
“I said I want the county jail back, but when I said that, I want to emphasize that we as the Androscoggin County commissioners, we don’t want to forcibly say we want the jail back under all conditions,” Commissioner Randall Greenwood said.
Greenwood, who also serves in the state Legislature, said he was recently caught off guard when he heard a member of LePage’s staff say that the governor’s position is “if the county wants the jails back, it’s all county.”
The commissioners at Wednesday’s workshop were unanimous in stating they do not want the county taxpayers to pick up the tab if the state drops funding. All the commissioners have heard such concerns from their constituents.
“It’s like, ‘why would we want to take the jail back if that’s going to add more tax burden to the taxpayers?’” County Commission Chairwoman Beth Bell said. “Obviously, none of the commissioners sitting here in any way want to increase the tax burden to any citizen of Androscoggin County.”
“I want to be clear to everybody right up front; yes, I know Androscoggin County can do a very good job of running our jail efficiently,” Greenwood said. “I want to state publicly I don’t necessarily know if I want it all lock, stock and barrel if we’re going to lose $2 million in state funding.”
The Androscoggin County jail has the lowest per-inmate cost in the state, Greenwood said. That would handicap the county more than others if state funding is stopped since there are few places left to find additional savings in the jail budget.
One proposal being discussed is to provide state funding for two more years before dropping the subsidy. Several commissioners said they would still feel handcuffed with little time to plan for the $2 million hit.
Another possibility would be for the state to assume control of the jails, which Greenwood felt was unlikely.
“If it’s going to become a state complex, we’ll sell it,” Greenwood said. “But I don’t want to give it away. The taxpayer has already paid for it once.”
The commissioners have a workshop scheduled March 11 to meet with the county’s legislative delegation to discuss their concerns about the potential crisis.