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MORGANTOWN - When the Monongalia County Commission approved its Fiscal Year 2027 budget in March, the $44 million spending plan anticipated $10 million would be carried over from FY 2026.
That number ended up being $8,926,606 - a difference of $1,073,140 to be pulled from the county's contingency line item.
During the body's most recent regular meeting, members couldn't help but notice how closely the number resembles the $1,076,713.49 overrun in the cost of the county's FY 2026 jail bill.
"So, we would have been right on target if we would have stayed on budget with the jail bill. There's a lot of ins and outs, but that's a curious number when I look at that particular area where we didn't come in on budget," Commissioner Sean Sikora said. "It's basically the difference in what we projected for carryover versus what we actually ended up with."
The county's cost to utilize North Central Regional Jail became a popular talking point as the previous fiscal year drew to a close.
In West Virginia, counties that are ultimately responsible for costs incurred by the state for housing and maintaining inmates who are pretrial or jailed due to misdemeanor convictions.
Following the passage of HB 3552 during the 2023 regular session of the West Virginia Legislature, county jail bills moved to a proportional formula calculated using a base daily rate set annually by the state and a county-specific number of inmate days based on population.
In FY 2026, the base daily rate was $57.46.
Under the formula, each county is given a pro rata number of inmate days calculated by multiplying its most recent census population (2020) by 0.52.
A county’s total jail bill is then calculated as follows using Monongalia County as the example.
Monongalia County’s pro rata number of inmate days is 55,027 (105,822 x 0.52).
For the first 80% of that number – up to 44,022 for Monongalia County – the county is charged 80% of the state’s base rate. The county is charged the full base rate between 80% and 100% of the pro rata number. Going beyond 100% jumps the daily cost to 120% of the base rate.
The county was notified in March that it had surpassed the 80% threshold. It was expected the county would pass the 100% threshold sometime just prior to the June 30 end of the fiscal year.
While the billable inmate days count started over on July 1, it started over with a new base daily rate representing a 31% increase - from $57.46 to $75.44.
With those new rates in mind, the county upped its jail bill projection from $2 million to $3 million for the current fiscal year. However, based on FY 2026 numbers, the commission anticipates it could very likely find itself facing another jail bill shortfall.
"The legislature is going to have to come forward with some sort of improvement of how we're going to address the jail bill," Commission President Tom Bloom said. "I can tell you we already budgeted another million dollars, and if things go the way it is, we could still be another $800,000 short. Again, this is an issue that has to be dealt with at the legislature. I know I am working with other counties to discuss possible options."
Sikora noted the county is also working to address costs on its end through a working group including representatives from the sheriff's office, prosecutor's office and the commission, among others.
"And we've even added staff to help work on that, because the money spent on that is money that we're not paying out through the jail bill," he said. "So, I think it's both of those, looking at it from all directions, including legislatively. It's going to be a focus this coming legislative session."