Jail closes fiscal year on budget

By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
    CARIBOU — A year-end review of the Aroostook County Jail’s revenue and expenditures revealed impressive budgeting, as recognized by the Aroostook County Commissioners during their last meeting in Caribou on Sept. 21.
    As reported by Aroostook County Administrator Douglas Beaulieu, the county’s jail budget ended the year with revenues and expenditures dead on, with a zero fund balance when the fiscal year ended on June 30. But that spot-on budgeting was only possibly through an additional injection of funds to the tune of approximately $15,000, requested by Beaulieu from the state’s Board of Corrections.
    This was the second year that Beaulieu successfully requested additional funds to balance Aroostook’s jail budget.
    The necessary additional funding was due to the increased cost associated with rising food prices and transportation costs, according to Aroostook County Sheriff James Madore.
    The commissioners also discussed the possibility of Beaulieu’s appointment to the state’s Board of Corrections, particularly who would represent northern Maine when it came to Board of Corrections issues.
    “One of the things I plan on doing if confirmed is that any vote directly relating to the County of Aroostook, I would recuse myself,” Beaulieu explained. “I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to be voting on our county budget.”
    Beaulieu informed the commissioners that recusing himself from voting on items that directly affect his county is not the historic norm for members of the board of corrections.
    “The other county member that have served on the board have historically voted for their budgets, but I find that problematic,” he explained. “Given the fact that I would recuse myself from those votes, I also feel that when the need arises, I can step up to the podium and advocate for our interests,” Beaulieu added.
    The commissioners agreed with Beaulieu’s intent to not vote on Aroostook’s budget if appointed to the Board of Corrections. They also briefly mentioned the possibility of establishing one of the commissioners as an alternative Aroostook jail budget advocate should the need arise.
    Beaulieu also informed the commissioners of two grants recently submitted on behalf of the Northern Lakes Fire and Rescue Department. Chief Darren Woods applied for two FEMA grants, one totaling $120,000 for airpacks and bottles for the fire department and a second grant, which the department applies for every year, that would be put toward purchasing a brand new fire truck; that grant is for $230,000.
    The department has been utilizing the federal surplus program to obtain used fire trucks at the cost of transporting the new vehicles back to northern Maine; this program has proved successful for various governing departments throughout northern Maine over the years, including the Northern Lakes Fire and Rescue Department. A previous fire truck Northern Lakes was able to obtain through the surplus program from a Vermont location is worth an estimated $90,000 to $110,000; the vehicle does require a new pump, but Beaulieu informed the commissioners that department members were confident that they would be able to repair the vehicle.
    While the surplus program has proved successful for the county, Northern Lakes did come across a lemon when they went to pick up their would-have-been new fire truck.
    As explained by Beaulieu, department officials were told that a federal surplus fire truck was fully operational and two department personnel were flown to Georgia to pick up the used truck; upon arrival, they found that the truck’s engine was fried and the truck didn’t run.
    While the truck-retrieval proved less that optimal, commissioner Norman Fournier mentioned that the department did get that new truck from Vermont approximately a month before the lemon was found.
    The commissioners agreed that it’s the cost of doing business, and none seemed dissuaded from participating in the federal surplus program in the future.
    While budgetary discussions are currently in the preliminary stages, Beaulieu did mention to the commissioner that health insurance is going to be a big cost driver for the county in 2012.
    “For every 1 percent increase in health insurance, it adds $11,000 to the budget,” Beaulieu said, adding that the county has tentatively budgeted for a 15-percent increase. The actual increase won’t be available to the commissioners until November. The next meeting of the Aroostook County Commissioners is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 5:30 p.m. in Houlton.