Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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·
The
bill will have no direct fiscal effect on the state.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2008 |
FY 2009 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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Counties Adjoining Another
State (those conveying persons to another county jail) |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential savings,
magnitude uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for
certain jurisdictions |
Potential savings,
magnitude uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for certain
jurisdictions |
Potential savings,
magnitude uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for
certain jurisdictions |
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Certain Counties (those
housing persons from an Ohio county adjoining another state) |
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Revenues |
Potential loss, magnitude
uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for certain
jurisdictions and may be more or less offset by related expenditure savings |
Potential loss, magnitude
uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for certain
jurisdictions and may be more or less offset by related expenditure savings |
Potential loss, magnitude
uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars for certain
jurisdictions and may be more or less offset by related expenditure savings |
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Expenditures |
Potential revenues-related
savings, magnitude uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars
for certain jurisdictions |
Potential revenues-related
savings, magnitude uncertain, but could be hundreds of thousands of dollars
for certain jurisdictions |
Potential revenues-related
savings, magnitude |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
From
a fiscal perspective, presumably a county sheriff would only enter into an
arrangement to convey a person or persons to an adjoining state if the total
costs of doing so are equal to or less than the total costs of conveying that
person or those persons to a jail in another Ohio county. Such an outcome means that the latter county
would no longer incur the cost of housing the former county's persons nor
collect any related financial reimbursement.
The net fiscal effect on the county that would otherwise be housing
another county's persons is uncertain.
It seems likely though that such a county would look to expand and/or
enter into arrangements with other Ohio counties that need jail beds.
·
In
conducting its research, LSC fiscal staff has discerned: (1) it does not appear that there would be
immediate and widespread use of this permissive authority, although that does
not preclude the possibility of it being so in the future, and (2) there are
persons associated with Hamilton County that are actively working on the idea
of conveying persons across the Ohio River to Kentucky's Campbell County
Jail. The potential fiscal
ramifications of implementing such an arrangement are discussed in the
"Detailed Fiscal Analysis" that follows, including the impact on
Butler County, which currently houses some persons conveyed from the Hamilton
County Sheriff.
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Overview
The bill most notably
specifies the circumstances under which the county sheriff would be permitted
to convey a person to a jail in a contiguous county in an adjoining state.
State fiscal effects
The
bill will have no direct fiscal effect on the state.
Local fiscal effects
County fiscal effects
generally
While conducting its
research, which included conversations with a representative of the Buckeye
State Sheriffs' Association, LSC fiscal staff did not find any significant
evidence that Ohio's border counties, in particular the sheriff of those
counties, are actively exploring the idea of conveying persons to a jail in a
contiguous county in an adjoining state.
Thus, at the present time, it does not appear that there would be
immediate and widespread use of this permissive authority, although that does
not preclude the possibility of it being so in the future. The twenty-seven (27) Ohio counties that
would be authorized to utilize the bill's permissive authority are summarized
in Table 1 immediately below.
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Table 1 Ohio Counties Adjoining Another State |
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Adams |
Columbiana |
Lawrence |
Preble |
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Ashtabula |
Darke |
Lucas |
Scioto |
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Athens |
Defiance |
Mahoning |
Trumbull |
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Belmont |
Fulton |
Meigs |
Van Wert |
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Brown |
Gallia |
Mercer |
Washington |
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Butler |
Hamilton |
Monroe |
Williams |
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Clermont |
Jefferson |
Paulding |
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From a fiscal perspective,
presumably a county sheriff would only enter into an arrangement to convey a
person or persons to an adjoining state if the total costs of doing so are
equal to or less than the total costs of conveying that person or those persons
to a jail in another Ohio county. Such
an outcome means that the latter county would no longer incur the cost of
housing the former county's persons nor collect any related financial
reimbursement. The net fiscal effect on
the county that would otherwise be housing another county's persons is uncertain. It seems likely though that such a county
would look to expand and/or enter into arrangements with other Ohio counties
that need jail beds.
The above generalization
aside, LSC fiscal staff has learned that there are persons associated with
Hamilton County that are actively working on the idea of conveying persons
across the Ohio River to Kentucky's Campbell County Jail. The potential fiscal ramifications of
implementing such an arrangement are discussed in more detail below, including
the impact on Butler County, which currently houses some persons conveyed from
the Hamilton County Sheriff.
Hamilton and Butler counties
Based on conversations with
staff who work for the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners Office,
LSC fiscal staff has gathered the following:
·
The
Butler County Sheriff makes up to 400 beds per day available for persons
conveyed by the Hamilton County Sheriff, and that the Hamilton County Sheriff
uses approximately 300 of those beds each day.
·
The
average daily cost to house an inmate in the Hamilton County Jail is $57.
·
The
average daily cost to the Hamilton County Sheriff to house an inmate in the
Butler County Jail is $55.
·
In
addition to the expense noted in the immediately preceding dot point, Hamilton
County expends approximately $250,000 per year to transport persons to the
Butler County Jail.
As noted, discussions have
occurred between persons associated with Hamilton County and the Campbell
County Jail relative to conveying persons across the Ohio River to the latter,
which is located in Kentucky. Campbell
County Jail has offered to provide 100 beds to Hamilton County at a cost of $44
per person per day. Relative to its
existing financial arrangement with Butler County, this represents a savings to
Hamilton County of $11 per person per day ($55 Butler County cost minus $44
Campbell County cost). The daily
savings works out to $1,100; annualized that savings would total around
$400,000. Campbell County Jail has also
agreed to pay for all related transportation costs.
It appears as though
Hamilton County would, in addition to the 100 beds being offered by Campbell
County, potentially seek in the future to reallocate the 200 beds that would
still be needed in Butler County to Campbell County or another county in
Kentucky (the counties of Boone and/or Kenton), if the reduction in costs is
deemed significant enough by the Hamilton County officials.
Clearly, under this
scenario, Butler County sheds costs of housing up to 300 Hamilton County
persons and loses the related moneys that would otherwise be collected from
Hamilton County. The net fiscal effect
on Butler County requires further research by LSC fiscal staff, and is, as of
this writing, uncertain. That said,
presumably, the Butler County Sheriff would seek to fill any excess jail bed
capacity by expanding and/or entering into arrangements to house persons for
other Ohio jurisdictions.
LSC fiscal staff: Jeffrey R. Kasler, Budget Analyst