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The Legislature's Public Safety Committee began Monday to consider a request from the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office to appropriate more than $360,000 from the Contingent Fund to cover anticipated shortfalls in the 2015 budget related to overtime expense in the Road Patrol and Corrections Divisions, and inmate boardout costs.

County Administrator Joe Mareane told the committee that financial projections anticipate those significant deficits in 2015 and what will be needed to balance those accounts over the rest of the year.  The projections, he said, reflect what is known and assume a level of restraint, as is possible, going forward.  He told the committee that the adjusted overtime cost for Corrections, approximately $368,000 would be roughly in line with the actual expense for 2014, and the adjusted Road Patrol cost would increase the overtime line by $98,000 to about $440,000, about $63,000 more than the actual expense in 2014.  He observed that such adjustments in past years had typically been made at year's end.

The appropriation would allocate $78,000 to support prisoner boardout expense, Mareane noting that the 2015 budget had anticipated $56,000 in boardout savings from the seven additional jail beds provided through the jail renovation project, extra capacity that will not be available until the project is completed by year's end, at the earliest.

Undersheriff Brian Robison told the committee overtime is controlled by factors such as required minimum staffing.  He said the adjustment, as he sees it, is an attempt to reconcile budgeted numbers to where they are supposed to be.  Administrator Mareane said that, in the jail, staffing is "very arithmetic," with the number of inmates dictating the mandated level of staffing.

The committee agreed to delay further discussion and action to its next meeting in September, Legislator Martha Robertson one of those who said more information is needed to consider an allocation of this magnitude, especially in the area of overtime expense.  Legislator Jim Dennis observed that boardout numbers in past years have typically been underestimated.  He said he supports the approach of making necessary financial adjustments now instead of waiting until year's end.

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