County officials told commissioners they had moved the sheriff’s office lease payment into the capital-construction levy and that projected revenue from housing state inmates remained uncertain because bed counts and contract terms were still in negotiation.

Why it matters: commissioners said projected inmate-board revenue had been used informally in early budget planning and that changes to negotiated bed counts materially reduce projected revenue, potentially requiring major cuts or use of reserves. “We thought we were going to get 2.6 [million],” one commissioner said; staff responded that negotiations remain incomplete and that final revenue assumptions must be confirmed before the commission adopts the budget.

Staff described the commission’s intent to apply projected state lease revenue toward bond or capital obligations associated with the correctional-center addition. Commissioners asked staff to confirm where projected state payments are recorded in the revenue spreadsheets and to show a conservative budget that uses a lower bed-count and a lower revenue estimate for planning.

On the bed-count negotiations, staff said the original letter of intent had contemplated 72 beds at an agreed per‑bed rate that yielded a larger revenue projection; conversations reported in the meeting indicated the state had proposed fewer beds (60) and that further changes could reduce the county’s revenue estimate to about $2.19 million under a worst‑case / conservative scenario. Commissioners directed staff to use a conservative estimate (60 beds at the negotiated per‑bed rate plus existing prisoner-board revenue) when preparing the August budget materials.

Commissioners also questioned whether the sheriff’s projected increases in corrections staffing and operational costs associated with adding beds had been fully captured in the budget; staff said they were including additional correctional deputies and other operating costs in expense projections and agreed to provide a worst-case revenue/expense worksheet showing net budget impact if the state contract is not signed or if bed counts are lower than earlier estimates.

There was no formal vote; the board agreed to bring a clarified revenue line and a conservative planning assumption to the next workshop so commissioners could assess whether to use reserves, raise mills, or cut departmental budgets.

Speakers who addressed this topic are listed below and quotes are attributed to them from the meeting transcript.