Cumberland County finance committee recommends budget despite uncertainty over jail revenues

The Cumberland County Finance Committee on Tuesday reviewed the staff budget update and recommended the draft budget as presented while leaving final approval for the county commissioners. Committee members and staff emphasized uncertainty about jail revenues tied to federal participants and stressed the county’s reliance on grant funding to expand public-health services.

Committee members heard from staff that, at this point, there is no reliable evidence to raise revenue projections for the upcoming budget cycle. Staff said the county has seen a recent decline in jail-related revenue, noting that the county “lost $700,000 in the jail last year alone,” and that uncertainty about participation by the U.S. Marshals Service and Immigration and Customs…