HOULTON, Maine — The Aroostook County Jail is facing yet another financial crisis.
In what is becoming a yearly event, jail officials told the Aroostook County Commissioners Sept. 3 that they simply did not have enough money to make it through the current fiscal year. In fact, the jail is facing one of its largest shortfalls in recent memory, despite efforts to increase state funding by expanding the number of inmates confined at the Shiretown facility.
According to Aroostook County Administrator Doug Beaulieu, the gap between what is budgeted and what is needed to run the jail is growing at an alarming rate. The Board of Corrections regularly mandates that the Aroostook County Jail be flat-funded, so the County puts together a budget to meet that request, knowing full well that those funds will not be adequate to cover the true cost of operating the facility.
Commissioners met with Ryan Thornell, the new executive director for the Maine Board of Corrections, during their Sept. 3 meeting to discuss the problem.
During that meeting, Thornell, who was named executive director eight months ago, said he felt he had “a good hold” on the budgeting process for the county jails, which differs somewhat from the state budgeting process.
“I think Aroostook County is the best example of how that will mesh together if all of the cards fall into place,” he said. “We understand you have had some serious budget issues.”
The Aroostook County Jail has been flat-funded at $3,165,599 for the past two years, even though that amount does not fully cover the costs of operations.
Deputy Chief Darrell Crandall of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department said the jail staff was experiencing a “great deal of concern” on the funding issue. Numerous jail employees attended the Sept. 3 meeting as a show of solidarity.
“I think it is important to note that there is a great deal of concern with our employees,” Crandall said. “We work hard to keep them in the loop on what we have been doing. They were all invited here tonight to hear what we are doing.”
“We are very proud of our jail and appreciate the work being done here,” added Commissioner Paul Adams.
This past February, the Aroostook County Jail underwent some minor renovations to expand the number of inmates it could hold. Back in 1991, the Aroostook County Jail was rated for 66 prisoners. In 2013, it was rated for 86 inmates (which was an increase from 72 in 2012). However, the jail regularly had more than 86 prisoners due to the sheer volume of inmates who were either awaiting trial or sentencing or those who were arrested and unable to post bail. For the most part, inmates are either waiting to be sentenced or are pre-trial.
To better meet the need, additional beds were brought in, raising the number of inmates the jail could hold to 123.
In years past, about 75-80 percent of the population were sentenced and doing their time, while 25 percent were waiting to go to court. Today, those numbers have flipped as about 20-25 percent of the total population is serving their time after being sentenced, while the rest are waiting for a court appearance.
Compounding the problem, the length of stay for those pre-trial inmates is unusually long for inmates of the Aroostook County Jail.
During its biennium inspection conducted March 12-13, 2013, the jail was cited for several violations, most of which stemmed from overcrowding at the Houlton facility. Prior to the expansion of beds, the jail was regularly over its rated volume, despite efforts to send inmates to other facilities.
Aroostook County is not alone in its funding dilemma as all 15 county jails are facing numerous financial obstacles, Thornell said. It costs about $80 million to run all 15 county jails.
Coinciding with renovations made to the jail, the Commissioners invited members of the Aroostook County Legislative delegation to the facility last February for a tour and presentation on the budget crisis. At that time, Beaulieu told the legislators that realistically, the Aroostook County Jail would be about $500,000 over its budget by the end of the current fiscal year.
Now, the actual amount of shortfall the jail is facing is considerably higher. According to reports, the ACJ is likely facing a shortfall in excess of $700,000 in the current fiscal year, and that number could grow to $850,000 by the next fiscal year.
When that happens, the BOC sends out “kicker payments” to jails midway through the fiscal year to cover expenses. Those payments must be approved by the state legislature. The problem, however, is County administrators never know exactly how much money they will receive, nor when it will arrive.
The county jail systems operate on a biennium cycle. Currently, the jails are operating under the fiscal year 2015 budget.
“We don’t really have a solution for FY 15,” Thornell said. “We (Board of Corrections) do not have any more money at our disposal. We have budgeted what we have.”
What that means is that Aroostook County will once again have to rely on the kicker payments to make ends meet, based upon the increased population of the jail and the increased costs associated with more prisoners.
Thornell said a supplemental budget of just over $2 million was being recommended to cover county jail expenses. Aroostook County’s deficit would represent about 40 percent of the entire supplemental budget.
“What worries me, is that by the time this goes to the Appropriations Committee and by the time its enacted by the Legislature, it will be somewhere near March and we will be carrying an extremely high deficit,” said Commissioner Norm Fournier. “The thing that scares me is if the Legislature does not fund (the supplemental budget), we are sitting here with a deficit of $800,000. We can’t go back to tax the communities, by law. Are there any strategies so we are not left holding the bag?”
Thornell said there is no real strategy in place if the supplemental budget fails.
“There is nothing on paper that the Board of Corrections can say to you to promise $800,000,” Thornell said. He added there would likely be no real solution to the funding problem until the FY 2016-17 cycle, which is the next biennium budget.
“We, the Board of Corrections, support you,” Thornell said. “It is my intent to go the Board of Corrections and the Legislature this spring to fight for additional funding for Aroostook County and the rest of the system.”
