By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — As directed by the Maine Board of Corrections, the Aroostook County Commissioners have calculated the proposed one-percent cut in the Houlton Jail’s budget — a reduction of approximately $30,000 from the currently budgeted roughly $465,000.
The commissioners discussed the potential funding reduction during the board’s last meeting on May 2 in Caribou, including how the one-percent cut in the jail’s budget would exacerbate an already under funded correctional institution. The proposed one-percent cut could mean the potential layoff of nine guards and a reduction of the jail’s in-house population from 72 to approximately 44.
“Times are really going to be tough ahead financially for the county jail system; of course, that’s going to impact our facility; we don’t know exactly how because we haven’t had a budget that’s been approved for fiscal year 2013 (which starts July 1),” Beaulieu said.
Since the advent of the Maine Board of Corrections (BOC) four years ago, the jail has been consistently under budgeted.
“If you add up the total amount over the four years, we’ve been under budgeted to the tune of about $263,000,” he said.
With the Aroostook County Jail inherently lacking the necessary budgeted funds for the past four years, the commissioners have had to request additional funding from the BOC every year to keep the jail operational; every year, the BOC has sent a check bridging the budgets structural gap.
To fully fund the Aroostook County Jail, Beaulieu estimates that an additional $233,000 would be needed on top of the roughly $465,000 budgeted for fiscal year (FY) 2012.
“That amounts to almost $700,000, and they’re asking us to cut almost $30,000 from [the currently budgeted $465,000],” he said.
Beaulieu explained that the 28 individuals potentially displaced by the budged reduction would be shipped out to other correctional facilities in the state on top of the already 15-30 inmates that Aroostook County transports to other facilities daily. The cost of maintaining those inmates would be shifted to the other facilities.
“The [proposed budget cut] doesn’t really make any sense at all, and we’ll just have to find out how the [Board of Corrections] reacts to it,” the County Administrator said.
Beaulieu, who sits on the Board of Corrections, is under the impression that his colleagues aren’t necessarily supportive of the cut, stating that it basically just transfers costs to other facilities in the system.
Since the inception of the BOC, keeping Aroostook’s jail fully funded has meant annual special requests to the BOC for additional funds; in addition, Aroostook County correctional officers are among the lowest paid in the state.
“We negotiate the contracts, but we can only negotiate contracts; we have to do that in good faith and if the money isn’t there from the Board of Corrections, than we have a very difficult task ahead of us — nearly an impossible one,” Beaulieu said. “There’s no way we could negotiate a wage level that would approximate the state-wide average in correctional officer pay, because the BOC just wouldn’t fund it; it’s just an impossible task.”
During their meeting, the commissioners also approved a new secretary for the Presque Isle District Attorney’s Office; Ashley Gagnon of Presque Isle will start her new job on Monday, May 21.
In conjunction with the summer holiday, the commissioners combined their July 4 and July 18 meetings into one meeting on Wednesday, July 11 starting at 4:30 p.m. in Caribou.
The next meeting of the Aroostook County Commissioners will be tonight at 5:30 in Houlton.
