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| Counties fear $100M price of state cost-cutting proposal |
| By articles.sun-sentinel.com - Kathleen Haughney |
| Published: 12/04/2012 |
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TALLAHASSEE – A state cost-cutting proposal that would shift about 5,600 inmates from state prisons to county jails would blow a $100-million hole in the budgets of counties already suffering from revenue losses in a down economy, according to the Florida Association of Counties. And that has many county officials, who say they can't afford – or, in some cases, physically house – more inmates in their jails, on high alert. "We really need to find solutions," said Cragin Mosteller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Association of Counties, the lobbying arm of county governments. "We're taking it very seriously." The move was proposed by the state Department of Corrections as part of a budget exercise that requires agencies to find areas where they can cut costs. It would save the state about $47.7 million a year, according to documents filed with Gov. Rick Scott's office, by reducing the number of convicts who serve their sentences in state prisons by leaving them in county jails. But because it typically costs more to house inmates in local jails than in much larger state prisons, the cost to the counties -- $100 million – would more than double what the state would save. "It's an unfunded mandate," said Orange Corrections Department Chief Michael Tidwell, where county lobbyists project the proposal would add $7.3 million to his jail operating costs. Officials in Broward (estimated cost: $10.7 million), Palm Beach ($2.7 million) and Osceola ($7.9 million) counties voiced similar concerns. Read More. |
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