Valerie Jordan of Fayetteville told Franklin County commissioners at their year-end meeting that the county has earned about $7 million in interest since 2022 and faces a projected $10.6 million year-end surplus, and she asked why $900,000 requested by the prison guards’ union could not be taken from that surplus to fund raises.

“We earned $7,000,000 in interest,” Jordan said during the public-comment period, adding that the surplus represented roughly 7% of the county’s $154,200,000 budget. “Surplus is meant to be spent.”

Jordan also cited figures she said she found online — including the $10.6 million surplus — and urged the board to improve public access to emails and to allow members of the public to participate by audio in future meetings for transparency and ADA compliance.

In response, an unidentified commissioner (Speaker 3) told Jordan he did not believe “we can spend our way out of our jail situation,” arguing the county’s staffing shortfall reflects scheduling issues and resistance from union leadership to revised shift patterns rather than insufficient pay. “I’m suggesting that our salaries are competitive,” he said, and called the staffing problem “a scheduling problem, not a salary problem.”

The exchange left unresolved whether the board will reallocate surplus funds for raises. No formal motion to appropriate surplus funds for guard pay was made during the meeting.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of the meeting agenda: moved (Speaker 2) and seconded; voice vote passed.
- Approval of minutes from Dec. 24: moved (Speaker 2) and seconded; voice vote passed.
- Jail vouchers totaling $125,214.80: moved and seconded; voice vote passed.
- Consent agenda: moved and seconded; voice vote passed.
- Appointment to the Franklin County Area on Aging advisory council (name in transcript uncertain): moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

What’s next

Jordan asked the board to consider using a portion of the identified surplus to meet the union’s $900,000 request; commissioners did not make a related motion during the meeting. The board is continuing separate work on jail operations and staffing (covered in a different presentation during the same meeting).