MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Jail reimbursements required under the regional jail system are more than some counties can pay, and many are making the decision to skip the payments.
In Monongalia County, jail expenses will exceed the budget for this fiscal year by about $1 million, and by next year that figure could double.
Senator Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, said members of the Monongalia County Commission have shared the numbers for this fiscal and the next, showing the rising year-over-year costs.
“We’ll probably spend about $1 million more this year, Monongalia County will,” Oliverio said. “Based on the schedule, I’ve talked with Tom Bloom in forecasting this, but we could be looking at $2 million next year.”
Inflation has been a driver as well as increased labor costs since around May of 2024. Members of the West Virginia National Guard were used to augment staff because the organization could not hire staff due to working conditions and low wages.
“Part of the solution I think is a little greater contribution by the state to help resolve this,” Oliverio said. “But it’s not going to be fair to our citizens if more and more of these counties don’t pay their jail bills.”
Policy changes in 2023 and continued inflation have continued to push costs up with no relief in sight. Under the new system, Oliverio said there are as many as 20 counties that have not paid their jail bills even though raises approved during the last legislature are not granted until the bills are paid.
“The formula tried to incentivize counties to not just leave somebody in the regional jails; they wanted them to manage their jail population,” Oliverio said.
Work on a solution has to happen quickly with 20 counties unable to pay and many more struggling to make remittances. The solution ranges from a decrease in services offered by counties to an increase in property taxes if there is no legislative remedy.
“If we can’t figure out a tweak, a change, or some solution here, we could see our citizens with about a 10 percent increase in their real property taxes,” Oliverio said. “That’s big, especially for people with rentals.”
Oliverio said jail bills are not going down anytime soon with calls to increase economic development and expand the state tax base. Monongalia County could be a case study for what could happen when and if the statewide population would begin to grow.
“What’s happening is we have a lot of crime; we have a growing county with close to 110,000 people, and more people are going to jail,” Oliverio said. “So, the volume is up, and the state is charging more for the daily rate.”