The Sagadahoc/Lincoln Jail Authority approved a preliminary 2008-2009 Two Bridges Regional Jail budget of $7.3 million at a special meeting Thursday, March 27.

The $7.2 million is down $600,000 from the earlier proposal of $7.8, but still $2.5 million more than the current budget.

Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett voted against it. Brackett said he did support the budget, but was concerned that neither of the two Lincoln County Commissioners, Bill Blodgett and Sheridan Bond, attended the meeting to voice their opinions.

Corrections Administrator Colonel Leonard LeGrand presented a budget March 5 that would have increased the counties' assessments by $2 million, about one million from each county. In that budget, LeGrand estimated only $409,000 in revenue from boarding fees; that number has now been increased to $2.2 million.

LeGrand pointed out that the 2007-2008 budget was based on 110 daily inmates; the 2208-2009 budget is based on 150 inmates, a 36 percent increase in population.

LeGrand told the authority there are 85 beds allocated to Lincoln and Sagadahoc inmates, leaving 65 boarding beds for outside counties, state, and federal inmates.

Should this budget be accepted by the commissioners, Lincoln County would be assessed $2,677,310 and Sagadahoc about $2,103,601. The increase to Lincoln County over last year is only $5,625 while the increase to Sagadahoc County is $93,744.

Previously Lincoln County was assessed 57 percent of the operating cost and Sagadahoc County was being assessed 43 percent.

Apparently the Sagadahoc inmate count has increased because under the new budget, Lincoln is being assessed 56 percent and Sagadahoc 44 percent. Sheriff Mark Westrum told the authority he is concerned that the Sagadahoc inmate count may increase even more within the next year.

Other adjustments in the proposed budget include using $200,000 in anticipated budget surplus from the 2007-2008 budget as revenue for the 2008-2009 budget.

As for the additional correctional officers that were requested in the first budget proposal, it was decided the correctional officers' positions will be determined by the amount of inmate growth and the amount of revenue gained from inmate boarders.

The budget will be delivered to the commissioners by March 31. Between April 1 and May 16, LeGrand said he will be available to present the preliminary budget to the commissioners from each county, should they request a presentation.

The commissioners will review the budget and make their recommendations, and return the budget to the jail authority for a special meeting of the authority on May 22. The authority will make their final approval May 22. It will then be sent back to the commissioners for their final approval.

The new budget goes into effect July 1, 2008.

What the state plans to do in its proposed consolidation of the jails is still an open question.

"Although there is a level of uncertainty in what the state is going to do, we must manage with assumptions and work through them," authority director Bud Lewis said.