After the Oklahoma State Department of Health mandated a compliance plan for the old jail, Jackson County voters in November 1999 approved a one-half cent sales tax to construct, equip and operate a new jail. Tax collections began in April 2002--a one-fourth cent tax to continue permanently, and a one-fourth cent sales tax to end in five years.
Due to changes in state laws and increases in the cost of operations, Jackson County Commissioners (Dale Dunn, District 1; Ricky Crouch, District 2; and Cary Carrell, District 3) placed a proposition on the Feb. 13 special election ballot asking voters to extend the expiring one-fourth cent county sales tax indefinitely, beginning April 1. The sales tax would continue paying for operating and maintaining the jail, including monthly payments on the facility's 30-year construction loan.
Jackson County Sheriff Morris Roberts ended fiscal year 2006 with a $59,477 account balance; however, if voters do not reauthorize the quarter-cent sales tax, Morris projected a $41,209 deficit in the fiscal-year 2007 sheriff department budget.
“We want the public to understand that the proposition does not ask for a tax increase; it just continues the extra quarter-cent sales tax,” Roberts said. “All the expenses are going up and the income is going down; so you can see where it's going to put us. We have one of the few new facilities in the state that is operating in the black; most new jails are in the red and financially in trouble.”
In the Jackson County Sheriff Department's 2006 budget, jail expenses were $1,653,829 and other sheriff department costs were $610,841--a total expense of $2,264,670. The 2007 budget projected jail costs of $1,639,592 and other sheriff department expenditures of $674,860, totaling $2,314,452-a $49,782 increase in expenses.
In the 2006 budget, income totaled $2,324,147, while Roberts estimated 2007 income at $2,273,243 (9 months of a half-cent tax and 3 months with only the remaining quarter-cent tax)--a $50,904 decrease in income. “Each year from now on, it's just going to get worse,” Dunn said.
To supplement income, Roberts' department runs a commissary at the jail and makes money when inmates use the pay telephones. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections reimburses the county $24 per day to house inmates that have been sentenced.
“We're holding 50 inmates from Oklahoma County that are waiting to go to Department of Corrections facilities; the penal system is packed and they can't take them as quickly as they are sentenced,” Roberts said. “But beginning November 1, we had to start paying their medical bills until they are processed through Lexington; we didn't in the past. One DOC inmate required more than $600 per month for medicine.”
According to Dunn, “We're talking several months' lapse time that the county must pick up those medical expenses; it's not something Sheriff Roberts could make prior arrangements for; state legislators arbitrarily decided they didn't have to pay those medical bills any more-other than emergency medical--and all of a sudden he's got that added expense.”
In the past, Roberts used a part-time physicians' assistant for prisoner medical care but now pays a doctor to come twice each week for sick call. “Most of the people that we get are sick; they're in for drug abuse,” Dunn said. “They need some type of medication. Their teeth are falling out because they used “meth” that eats the calcium up in their system. Their heart and kidneys are bad; they're sick.”
Roberts said legislators are requiring more and more of jails, and inmates are gaining more and more rights and privileges. “People ask why it costs so much to operate a jail; we're there 24 hours a day; we're never closed; we have salaries, utilities and food for the inmates 7 days a week, including holidays,” he said.
Other expenses also continue to escalate. Because the building is now five years old, Roberts changed from a part time to a fulltime maintenance employee. The high-tech jail facility already needs updated computer programs--one at $30,000; and the county should upgrade the VCR surveillance system to DVDs, another $30,000. Recent fuel price increases also raised the cost of utilities, food, clothing, shipping and maintenance.
“A lot of things were obviously unseen five years ago and no one would have guessed that petroleum products would increase so much,” Dunn said.
According to Jackson County Treasurer Janet Wright, “Under the sheriff's guidance, his staff has been excellent in pursuing all sources of revenue. They apply for any grants that they can get; they keep track of inmate billing to get reimbursed--for money that before Morris' management was not pursued. We are fortunate to be in the financial shape that we're in and we don't want to lose that position.”
With a current 163 inmates, the 172-bed jail is approaching capacity and the number of inmates booked continues to increase: 1,238 in 2003; 2,057 in 2005; 2,153 in 2006. As the only jail in Jackson County, prisoners from Altus, Blair, Duke, Eldorado, Olustee and the District III Drug Task Force are received without charge. Juveniles are sent to other facilities for housing--paid by the county-and the numbers increased from one in 2003 to eight in 2004 and 22 in 2005.
“When we planned for this jail, we really did not know just how long it would take to get it full; it's full now. It's like that movie, ‘Field of Dreams.' Build it and they will come; that's what happened,” Crouch said.
To generate extra income, the commissioners plan to use minimum-cost construction to convert the prisoners' exercise yard into an additional 20-bed “pod.” Crouch said the exercise yard is nonessential, since skylights and the dayroom meet the natural lighting and square footage requirements.
Financial advisors planned a decrease in the monthly 30-year loan payment when the quarter-cent sales tax expires -from the original $70,000 per month in the first five years to about $45,000 per month in September 2007. However, during the last five years of the loan, payments return to $70,000.
“Whoever is sheriff 15 years from now is going to have a hard time making it,” Roberts said. “We couldn't pay additional money for the first five years; but now, if we keep this sales tax, we can get it paid off quicker, which will save money on interest and make it a lot easier for the sheriff down the road.”
Crouch said Dan McMahan, financial advisor, refigured the financing after the sales tax passed because state jail inspectors refused to allow the county to open the doors of the new jail. Inspectors required the county to increase the number of jail employees from the four in the old jail to a minimum 15. “Dan knew the amount coming in from the sales tax would not cover the additional labor costs,” Crouch said.
An amount equal to the quarter-cent sales tax--if generated by ad valorem taxes-would mean an additional 5.2 mills, which would require a vote of the people, County Assessor J.C. Brooks said. Taxes on a $100,000 home would increase $60 annually. “I strongly encourage the public to maintain that quarter-cent sales tax and not switch horses in the middle of the stream,” Brooks said. “It's working the way it is now; it's one of the best-run facilities in the state of Oklahoma.”
Sheriff Roberts' budget pays salaries for 36 people-jailers, dispatchers, deputies, sheriff and under sheriff. County general fund pays for only 13 employees; sales tax moneys support the remainder.
Crouch commended Roberts on his management of the sheriff's department. He said the jail facility helped revitalize the entire department, as the sheriff moved the moneys where needed, including purchasing better vehicles for deputies. “I remember when we didn't have any money at all; the deputies were driving vehicles that shouldn't be running 45 miles an hour, let alone 90 miles an hour. Now the department is in good shape; we don't want to see it deteriorate like it was.
“This is one of the few jails in the state that operates in the black. I'm proud of Morris and Jackson County for being able to do that. If we don't maintain the sales tax, I can see it turning around-not overnight-but going downhill and we'll be back in the red. We'll be back in trouble with the health department.”
Wright said county officials could not foresee five years ago the increases in expenses and cutback in state payments. “It's not going to be an immediate thing if the tax drops to a quarter cent, as it's supposed to in April, but it's going to start snowballing. Future treasurers, assessors, and commissioners will have to deal with this; even if we're not in public office then, we don't want to leave that kind of legacy. We're trying to look into the future and protect county government and the citizens of Jackson County by keeping the tax as a half cent.”
Dunn said, “As public officials, we have a responsibility to the constituents to be broad minded and make plans for the future and for our successors in office. We don't want to go back to the days where the system failed and inmates walked out the door; this is a valid need for Jackson County.”
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