The Burnet County Commissioners Court plans to deliberate thorny Burnet County jail budget issues during its regular meeting today, December 12.
Current figures indicate total revenue allocated for county jail operations is expected to tally more than $9 million through September 2024, an increase of almost 6% compared to revenue of $8.5 million put aside for jail services during Fiscal Year 2023.
"Jails are flat-out expensive," County Auditor Karin Smith told The Highlander.
Recent county budget records show more than 57% of jail revenue flows into county coffers from non-local sources.
Indeed, during FY 2024, the county expects to receive more than $5.16 mil lion to house inmates from Bell, Llano and other counties.
However, the $5.16 million amounts to a decrease of about 8% compared to what Burnet County received from other counties during FY 2023.
The 8% revenue drop could be sig - nificant, considering inmate numbers from other counties are prone to exceed the number of Burnet County inmates.
The county jail in Burnet at 900 County Lane can house up to about 550 inmates.
“Our (Burnet County) inmates oc- cupy less than 50% percent of the jail," Smith said.
The cost of inmate medical services charged by private contractors com pounds the Burnet County dilemma of securing enough funds for its jail expenses.
Until last September, the county relied on Bluebonnet Trails Community Services as its inmate mental health care provider and Turn Key Health Clinics as its inmate medical needs provider.
However, Bluebonnet terminated its contract with the county last August.
During recent weeks, Turn Key emerged as the low bidder to replace Bluebonnet and support county jail inmates with both medical and mental care.
However, Turn Key has proposed the cost of more than $1.386 million for inmate mental and medical care, more than $486,000 the amount of $900,000 the county has set aside to pay for inmate care costs during FY 2024.
Possibly, county records indicate unallocated funds of $500,000 could be available to cover any prospective jail fund deficit during the current fiscal year.
However, Turn Key officials have indicated Burnet County could be exposed to proposed contract increases of almost 4% each year during the next three years.
Moreover, U.S.
Treasury officials have indicated American Rescue Plan Act funding is set to expire next year. Along with various other governmental agencies, Burnet County received a fair share of ARPA funds during the COVID-19 pandemic.