CANTON: The Stark County Jail might reach full capacity — 501 inmates — this year for the first time since 2011 under terms of the county commissioners’ proposed budget.
The prospect of $17.9 million for his department is giving Sheriff George Maier the resources to hire 45 staffers, although it will not happen immediately.
“You can’t hire 45 people in 30 days; it’s impossible,” Maier said Wednesday after a meeting at which commissioners laid out their 2013 spending plan.
Approval of the county budget is expected next week.
A pool of 200 applicants might yield 35 or 40 hires “if we’re lucky,” Maier said.
Despite staffing issues, Maier said, he opened a 50-bed jail block Wednesday, bringing capacity to 450 of the 501-bed maximum.
He said he has reached out to the community, particularly veterans’ groups, to recruit potential employees.
Maier reduced his budget request to $17.9 million from the $19.1 million his predecessor, Timothy Swanson, had submitted because staffing levels will be depressed until new recruits are on board. Maier also said he will need fewer dollars because he plans to hire corrections officers to work in the jail, rather than deputies who require more training and command higher salaries.
The sheriff’s office would claim about 31 percent of the county general fund under the proposed budget.
Total spending on corrections also would include $3.9 million for the Multi-County Juvenile Attention System, which handles youth offenders.
The overall general fund appropriation for 2013 is projected at $56.2 million, a 15 percent increase from $48.9 million in 2012. Total available funds are certified at nearly $61.8 million. It includes the first full year of collections on a 0.5 percent sales tax voters passed in November 2011. The tax is expected to raise $22.5 million and to be dedicated to criminal justice functions.
The county is taking a hit in revenue from the state.
County Auditor Alan Harold said $2.9 million is expected in the local government fund, slightly more than half the $5.4 million received from the state in 2011.
Commissioners plan to leave unappropriated $5.5 million, which could be used for such capital projects as the repair of roofs at the jail and the Frank T. Bow Building and repairs to the parking garage at the Stark County Office Building. An additional $1 million is included in the spending plan for capital projects.
Departmental budgets include enough money to give 2 percent raises to employees, Commissioner Thomas Bernabei said. He said many have not had raises for three or four years, while they have also shouldered more medical insurance costs.
Commissioners plan to approve the budget Wednesday.