Director Edmon Howard has provided the 2020 budget message for the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail. The message discusses the need to hire more staff for the jail and raising the hourly pay for employees to $15. Howard notes 2020 was a “trying” year for the jail, with revenues down $150,000 from last year.
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2021 Budget Message
On Nov. 6, 2020, Edmon Howard Jr., director of the Daviess DeKalb Regional Jail, presented the following information as required by law.
The year 2020 has been a very trying year to say the least. We have dealt with multiple situations including the pandemic, court changes and housing changes, which have all had an effect on our budget. It has also had an impact on staffing the jail. As a separate entity, we have to compete with other jails in drawing more help to run the jail in a safe and secure manner.
Because we have approximately two months left in our fiscal year, all revenues for 2020 and 2021 are estimates and will change slightly as we close out the year. Our revenues were down this year over $150,000 compared to 2019. With that being said, we think it will improve, but are still cautious. I believe that we need to look for additional ways to generate revenue for the jail (i.e. additional jail agreements). Some of the areas we want to point out for 2021 are:
Revenues from Daviess & DeKalb Counties: In the past the way we figured revenues from our parent counties was confusing. Through this budget report starting this year, we plan to have a better picture for the board. Instead of listing the amount billed and then showing what was written off, we are going to show the actual amount we receive. The Profit and Loss report will still contain all information.
Example: In the past, we would bill $75,000 for the month to Daviess County and then the county sends us a payment of $5,000. At that time, we would “write off” the balance of $70,000. This budget reflects only what we receive for the year and then the estimate we expect to get next year.
Staffing: In order to operate the jail safely and to maintain security, we need a minimum of 36 jailers (this includes supervisors) and transport/court officers. Due to staff quitting, we are in need of at least five jailers to fill the slots available. Because of the staff shortage we have already accrued approximately 270 hours of overtime and we are looking at adding additional hours if we cannot hire the help. This is putting a strain on the officers that are working with little or no time off. In our budget I am requesting the funds for five additional jailers Also, we are requesting to raise our starting pay to $15 per hour which we have figured into our 2021 budget.
For 2020 we budgeted $1,422,000 for staffing and came in under budget for the year at $1,348,513. This was mostly due to shortages. For 2021 we are requesting an increase over the 2020 budget of less than 1.5% to $1,442,500. This includes an increase for Administrative Assistant and Deputy Director. Because it appears at this time that we came in under for the year, we want to start the increase in the custody payroll by the Nov. 20 payroll for the custody staff. This would allow us to advertise that we have positions starting at $15 per hour. By starting the raise in November, it would be less than $12,000 added to our current payroll.
Staff Medical Insurance: We did not receive the United Healthcare bid for insurance until late on Nov. 5. We had been told that the cost was going to increase by 13% over last year’s cost. Upon review, the actual amount of the increase was 12.4%. Also, currently the staff pays a portion of their insurance which currently is $44 per pay period. I think that in order for us to remain within our budget we need to increase the employee portion to $48.50 per pay period per policy. That would be less than 11% increase passed on to the staff.
Inmate Medical Insurance: We received two bids for our medical provider for the inmates; our current provider Advanced Correctional Healthcare (ACH) and Quality Correctional Health Care (QCHC). Both offered the coverage we need for our facility. After review, ACH was selected which was $100,000 cheaper per year. Their cost to us is $187,876.10, a 3.5% increase over last year. In the budget I am requesting $188,000 for 2021.
Inmate Food Service: For the second year, the Food Service Manager has kept us under budget for inmate meals. We are keeping our food budget at $325,000 for 2021.
Automobile & Shop: We are currently under budget on fuel for transports because of additional video court and “Zoom” meetings. Unfortunately, we do realize that the cost of fuel will increase and so will our transports. For that reason, we have increased our budget item under fuel approximately $7,000 over what has been used this year.
Fixed Asset Purchases: During 2020, we have improved the jail by replacing doors and locks and re-wiring the jail. This has improved the safety and security of the jail. Now we need to focus on exterior and the north wall of “F ‘ Hall. We have issues with water running into the building and under the wall. I have budgeted $30,000 for the grading of the parking lot and to replace insulation in the north wall.
As we work our way out of 2020, I believe we will continue to improve our workforce, increase the security of the jail, and improve our working environment.
~ Respectfully submitted by Edmon E. Howard Jr., Director