JONESBORO — During its Tuesday, April 2 meeting, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 to approve a budget amendment addressing a projected $14.8 million shortfall at the Sheriff’s Office.
Commissioners Jeffrey Turner, Felicia Franklin and Gail Hambrick voted for the budget amendment while DeMont Davis voted no.
More than $7 million of the shortfall is coming from personnel expenses — with about $2.3 million in overtime for full-time employees and more than $1.13 million in overtime for part-time employees, according to numbers presented at a March work session.
Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen reiterated those numbers at the April 2 meeting saying the jail isn’t properly staffed, which is leading to the overtime costs.
He said that while the jail is fully-staffed as nearly all positions are filled, the jail needs to add more positions to be properly staffed.
He said that compared to about 10 years ago, there are now about 40 fewer corrections officer positions at the jail. In 2014, there were 165 corrections officer positions while there are 123 now.
Another huge chunk of the shortfall is coming from an increase in medical expenses.
According to the March numbers, the Sheriff’s Office is expected to go over budget by more than $6.8 million in medical service fees for the 2024 fiscal year, which ends June 30.
Food service expenses are expected to go over budget by about $500,000.
During the meeting, Hambrick asked what would happen if the County Commission didn’t approve the budget amendment.
“If we did not pay it, which by law we have to, then employees would not be working, nobody would take care of the detainees and we’d have an even bigger issue on our hands,” Turner said.
The County has a fund balance of about $75 million, not counting the more than $14 million that will go to make up for the Sheriff’s…
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