SINCLAIR, Maine — Aroostook County Commissioners have created an account to address a more than half-million-dollar jail fund deficit.
Meeting Wednesday in Sinclair, the group approved the creation of a Correction Services Capital Reserve Account. The money will come from existing surplus.
The jail fund had a deficit of $590,134 at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, a result of inconsistent state funding and underfunded state mandates, according to Aroostook County Finance Director and Deputy Treasurer Dana Gendreau. The reserve account does not create a financial backup plan for the jail, but it will fund the current deficit and allow operations to continue without increasing the tax rate.
Gendreau and County Administrator Ryan Pelletier explained during the meeting that this is a way for the county government to legally cover and track the deficit.
Commissioner Paul Underwood, who attended via Zoom, agreed.
“I think this is sound financial management,” he said. “And I think it’s getting other counties in trouble because they don’t do it.”
Penobscot County, for example, is facing a nearly $3.5 million deficit as a result of its jail expenses. Penobscot commissioners had held out hope that more state funding would come, but without this funding the county is looking at raising its taxes by 14%.
Aroostook County has met all the required guidelines to create this account, which will ensure that the $590,134 from surplus will only be used to meet the deficit, Gendreau said.
The total amount will be taken from the undesignated General Fund surplus balance, which was a little more than $3 million as of June 30. Following the jail funding, $2.6 million will remain, Gendreau said.
All commissioners present voted in favor of creating the account.
County officials also approved a bid of $2.8 million from A.M. Construction and Roofing for the planned new fire station project in Sinclair. Federal congressionally directed spending will cover $2.25 million of the total cost. The remaining $750,000 will come from the state’s unorganized territory fund.
The new station will replace a facility that is more than 80 years old and will include handicapped accessibility, a new truck bay for modern vehicles and updated wiring. It will be used by North Lakes Fire & Rescue, which also has stations in Madawaska Lake and Cross Lake.
Ground will likely be broken on the new building next spring, Pelletier said.
A snow removal contract was also approved during the meeting in which the town of New Sweden will perform snow removal duties for Connor Township for three years, with the price of each successive year being $41,204, $43,264, and $45,427.
