HR County moves to keep NORCOR funding

Commissioners said the matter won’t impact the county’s immediate budget crisis, as they seek to fill budget gap of over a million dollars.

Commissioner Les Perkins said, “At this point I would feel more comfortable setting a cap on funding for NORCOR and not direct the (jail) board to make any decisions on juvenile. I feel like it’s going to work itself out through the budget process.”

The jail in The Dalles serves member counties Hood River, Wasco, Sherman and Gilliam. Those government entities pay a $3.8 million subsidy per year to help fund NORCOR’s operations.

Operating funds mainly come from subsidy revenue and contracts for services from other sources.

The jail’s budget message says county subsidy rates are divided between the counties, at 50 percent Wasco, 40 percent Hood River, 5 percent Sherman and 5 percent Gilliam. This agreement is set to be reviewed before the 2018/2019 fiscal year budget adoption.

The juvenile facility has posed financial difficulties for counties that help pay for its operations.

It also drew controversy over inmate conditions via a scathing report by Disability Rights Oregon in December.

An independent audit later found that the DRO report misinterpreted some information, but did call attention to needed changes, the Chronicle reported earlier. The juvenile facility will be better because of the DRO’s report, the audit by Texas-based Mel Brown and Associates (MBA) concluded.

Hood River County asked for a “no-juvenile” analysis from the jail; the study found some costs in the immediate future followed by savings within the coming years.

Commissioner Bob Benton, the Hood River County representative on the NORCOR board, said closing the juvenile facility would create uncertainty and costs in the short-term.

“I think the issue of maintaining (the subsidy) the same is that we’re trying to put together a budget right now; if we request that juvenile be closed, it’s an unknown number that will cost the county that we’d need to put into our budget,” Benton said.

It could be six figures or more, he said, and by keeping funding static, “I think by working with those existing numbers we don’t have to fund that unknown or make a placeholder in this year’s budget for that.”

Benton explained that with the rising costs that public entities like NORCOR must pay, keeping the rate the same would essentially be a reduction.

Commissioner Rich McBride said he spoke with the jail administrator, Bryan Brandenburg, about budget numbers. According to McBride, Brandenburg said he hasn’t asked for an increase in several years, essentially leading to a flatline.

“He’s well aware that juvenile is costing us a lot of money,” McBride said.

There are complications to the matter, as raising daily rates to recoup costs could cause the number of inmates to dwindle, he noted.

Commissioner Karen Joplin agreed with the approach of not directing NORCOR to take a course of action on its funding.

She stated, “I don’t have any interest in telling the NORCOR board what to do internally with their dollars.”

County Chair Ron Rivers said, “I think that’s what we should do and show the support — and see what we do after that two-year period.”

Benton said, “I imagine that will be a discussion that will come up again. I just feel that … once we solve our own issue we can circle back to address that in the future.”