By VICKI URBANIK

The Porter County Council is brainstorming how to resolve an estimated $400,000 shortfall at the county jail, with options that include a one-day partial shutdown of county government and a special appeal to the state.

The shortfall stems from the state’s decision at the start of this year to stop sending Department of Corrections inmates to the Porter County Jail. The fees that the DOC used to pay Porter County funded the salaries of jailers and other jail expenses.

Twice recently, county officials have shored up the dwindling jail fund, once by dipping into income tax funds for $150,000 and another time by loaning the jail $50,000 from casino revenues. But according to Porter County Auditor James Kopp, the jail fund will be out of money again after the next payroll.

How to offset the shortfall, estimated at $400,000 through the end of the year, prompted a long discussion prior to the official start of the county’s budget hearings Monday.

Council members agreed to seek more information on the options discussed Monday and to revisit the issue when budget hearings resume at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Perhaps the most drastic measure was suggested by council member Jim Burge, R-at large, who said one option could be to shut down non-essential county government offices for one or two days a month, in turning saving money that could be used toward the jailers. He said he wasn’t necessarily advocating such a move, but that it does represent one option.

But council member Dan Whitten, R-at large, said it would be a hardship on many employees to expect them to give up one or two days of pay, especially in the current economic climate. And council member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, said she doesn’t see why other county departments should have to suffer because of a problem at the jail.

Another option, suggested by Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, is to eliminate the special fee-based jail fund immediately and roll the jail expenses into the county’s general fund. The council is expected to do just that for the 2009 budget, but in order to make that option work mid-year would require an additional appropriation. However, because Porter County still does not have a certified budget for this year, the state will not approve any such appropriations.

Poparad said the county could make a special appeal to the state to allow the funding.

“We have a unique situation here,” he said.

Much of the discussion Monday focused on a special fund that comes from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. According to Kopp, about $143,000 in this fund could be available for the jail.

But County Sheriff Dave Lain urged against tapping those funds, which are being reserved for the SWAT team and large-scale equipment needs.

“If I didn’t absolutely believe the SWAT team wasn’t an absolute necessity, we wouldn’t have one,” Lain said, adding that the sheriff’s department has resisted spending down the DEA fund in order to save up money for larger priced expenditures.

But Poparad said the sheriff may have no choice but to use the fund, unless it wants to lay off jailers.

“We’re between a rock and a hard place,” Poparad said.

Another option is to further tap the County Economic Development Income Tax funds, a move that would need the approval of the county commissioners. The council agreed to ask the commissioners to attend Wednesday’s budget hearing.

Burge said he wouldn’t want to use the CEDIT funds because the money would be going toward county operational expenses, and the income tax was not enacted for that purpose. Another option would be to further tap the county’s casino funds, but Burge noted that that’s the source for longevity bonus pay for employees.

Several council members questioned not only if the commissioners would be willing to use more CEDIT funds for the County Jail but also whether there are adequate CEDIT funds to cover the shortfall.

Posted 8/12/2008