Maine’s Board of Corrections delayed action Monday on a looming $1 million shortfall in the state’s county jails.

The group approved about $2 million in scheduled payments to jails, including about $184,000 to the Androscoggin County Jail. However, more money needed to cover costs from April through June may never come, Board Chairman Mark Westrum warned.

“You better figure out how to get by,” Westrum told a room full of sheriffs, jail administrators and county commissioners. “Our hands are tied.”

Androscoggin County Sheriff Guy Desjardins had hoped to leave the meeting knowing how much revenue was coming. Instead, he left frustrated.

“How will we get through the rest of the fiscal year?” he said. “I have no idea.”

Across Maine, funding for jails has been uncertain for years.

In a bid to ease the property tax burden and fight escalating jail costs, the Legislature established its “One Maine, One System” network of jails in 2008. The move capped the amount each county paid for its jail at 2009 levels, with a promise that the remaining money would come from the state.

That state funding comes in the form of quarterly payments. Monday’s allocation only covers promised third-quarter payments. The fourth quarter begins April 1.

The longer the board delays the decision about how deep it will cut, the harsher those cuts are likely to be, Desjardins said.

A plan for funding only the most needy jails was presented to the board by its executive director, Michael Tausek.

Under that plan, the third-quarter payment to Androscoggin County would have been cut by about $40,000.

Other counties — particularly those with unspent budget money — would have faced steeper cuts. Kennebec County, which is due $291,000, would have collected about $127,000. Cumberland County, which is due a $700,000 payment, would have collected only $25,000.

Since the Oxford and Franklin county jails became holding facilities when the jail network began, they were not due payments. In fact, they pay into the larger system. Taxpayers in both counties fund corrections at 2009 levels, as if the jails were still in operation. People from Franklin County who are incarcerated for longer than three days typically go to Somerset County. Oxford County’s longer-term inmates go to the Androscoggin County Jail.

Westrum said he hopes to have the rest of the current year’s budget set by April. However, he warned counties that the jails will be “flat-funded” in the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Desjardins asked him for a definition of “flat-funding.” Neither he nor the board had one.

After the meeting, the sheriff wondered if flat-funding meant the jail network would face a shortfall again next year.

“Are we going to do this all over again?” he asked.

He asked John Lebel, the administrator of the Androscoggin County Jail, to work on a projection of jail spending through June. Desjardins said he planned to meet with County Treasurer Robert Poulin and commissioners.

In some cases, planned purchases might be put off until July 1, he said. In other cases, cuts might be needed. Much will be decided by the board and the size of its end-of-the-fiscal-year payments.

“We’re going to have to sit and figure out what we’re going to do,” Desjardins said.

Westrum gave little hope.

“We’re faced with a situation where we just don’t have enough money,” he said.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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