AUBURN — Disgusted with how long employees in the Sheriff’s Department have worked without a contract and the skyrocketing legal fees, the Androscoggin County Budget Committee chopped the attorney services line by more than 75 percent from the jail budget during Wednesday’s budget hearing.

The decision by the Budget Committee is meant to send a clear signal to the county commissioners and their attorneys: Get this done now.

The employees have worked without a contract since 2012. Following mediation and arbitration, the contract talks are now being fought in court.

“We need to send a message that we need to place our money in the pockets of our law enforcement and not in the pockets of attorneys,” Budget Committee Chairwoman Emily Darby of Minot said.

The committee cut $28,000 from the proposed $37,000 line for attorney services, reducing the amount to last year’s total of $9,000. The county has already spent more than $26,000, much of that on the fight with the union representing Sheriff’s Department employees.

But instead of cutting the bottom line of the jail budget by $28,000, the Budget Committee added the amount back into the budget — $14,500 in the food budget line and $13,500 in overtime.

Budget Committee members were reluctant to cut anything from the $5.7 million jail budget, which they agreed was severely underfunded. Sheriff Eric Samson had already cut $650,000 from the budget because state law limited any budget increase to 3 percent, even though state funding for the entire jail system was cut by more than $2 million.

Discussion on the 17-page jail budget took nearly two hours. While commissioners once again skipped the meeting, county Treasurer Robert Poulin attended. His presence helped committee members as they proceeded line-by-line.

The large increase in the attorney services account baffled everyone in attendance. Even Norman Beauparlant of Poland, the only Budget Committee member to attend all of the commissioners’ meetings when the budget was compiled, could not recall any discussion on why the line needed such a steep increase.

“This is why we need (commissioners) at this meeting,” said Michael Lachance, a Lewiston city councilor and Budget Committee member.

No commissioners have attended any of the Budget Committee meetings.

Some committee members were ready to move on and make decisions on the budget without commissioners’ input.

“I refuse to rubber stamp a potted plant,” Lisbon Selectman Mark Lunt said.

The committee cut $5,000 from the civil process budget, which was slated to go toward a three-year lease for a new vehicle.

Because of the time spent on the jail budget, the committee postponed discussion on the sheriff’s budget, which is separate from the jail budget, and the communications budget until Thursday, Oct. 29.

At next week’s meeting, the committee will take up the commisisoners’ budget, as well as those of employee benefits, human resources, auditing, treasurer and three other departments.

With the commissioners seeking to increase their attorney fees from $35,000 to $150,000, Budget Committee members were hinting at sending another message next week.

ssherlock@sunjournal.com

“I refuse to rubber stamp a potted plant.” — Mark Lunt, Lisbon selectman

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