Working on the budget after another year of record income in the jail

There is a lot that goes on at the Sheriff's Office during the first month of the year, including work on the budget. The budget process is always a challenge because we have to try and estimate what something will cost over the next year. On some items this is very easy, such as contracts with other vendors, medical, and software maintenance and upgrades because we can negotiate with vendors, and in the end have a set price for the year.

With other items like, food, utilities, fuel, and jail supplies, it is a little more difficult. Over the years, county jails have become somewhat of a business more than just a jail to hold local prisoners. Over the last two years, we have put a lot of focus on the contracts and deals we make with other counties to make sure we are competitive and bring as much revenue into Vernon County as we can.

In this field, however, the number of inmates held can fluctuate a lot. We have had days when counties call us and say their inmate numbers went way down and they are coming to pick up 20 prisoners from our jail that we had been holding. There have been other times when we have one of the counties we house for call and ask if they can bring 20-30 inmates to put in our jail. Because of this, it can be difficult to estimate exactly how much we will need to run the jail because a difference of 20-30 inmates can change the dollar amount a lot.

When we first start the budget process at the Sheriff's Office, I rely on my administrative department heads to help with this process by sending me a request of what they estimate they will need to run their department. I then begin looking at each line item and decide if there is any way to save money, or if it is something we really need to begin with.

How much money will be needed for paper, equipment for the road deputies, equipment for the jail and detention officers, training, phones, computers, copy machines, etc. We must then do the same process with the income, how much do we think we will make in housing other prisoners, or serving papers, or charging for drug analysis tests. We can always look at what we did the year before, but we have also found that what happened last year does not always predict anything for this year!

When it is all said and done, the results will reflect on how well everyone worked as a team to reach the same goal. To achieve the most we must have everyone work together. In 2014, the Sheriff's Office broke the record for the most income by bringing in a total of just over $1.1 million. In 2015, we did even better by breaking the record for a second year in a row at just under 1.2 million dollars.

Although we turn this money over to general revenue, with most of the Sheriff's Office money coming from outside Vernon County, it helps supplement the amount of Vernon County tax money that must go to run the Sheriff's Office. By having more inmates in our jail from other counties, it also gives us the ability to hire more staff and create more jobs within our own community!