Penobscot County looks to ’03 budget Spending proposal up about $730,000

BANGOR – Members of the Penobscot County Budget Committee began work Wednesday night on the county’s operating budget for the year ahead.

The session was the first of two scheduled this month. The budget work will resume at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20.

According to County Administrator William Collins, the county’s three commissioners have developed a $10.5 million budget proposal for the coming fiscal year, which begins Jan. 1. He said the budget, up about $730,000 from this year’s budget and still subject to adjustment, will require about $7.9 million in county tax dollars.

The commissioners’ budget proposal reflects an 11 percent increase for health insurance premiums, an estimated 30 percent increase for the Maine Municipal Association risk pool program and a projected 10 percent increase in worker’s compensation costs. In addition, it includes contracted and step wage increases for county employees, a 53-week pay cycle as opposed to the usual 52 weeks and a plan that bought out the longevity bonus program, an annual stipend aimed at retaining seasoned workers.

After much debate Wednesday night, the county budget panel added one staff member at the Penobscot County Jail. They also cut $5,000 from the account for cruiser parts, increased the revenue forecast for boarding federal inmates from $350,000 to $375,000, and added $10,000 in anticipated income for the D.A.R.E. program.

The new jail position, along with the transfer of a lieutenant from the patrol division, will enable the county to implement a new scheduling plan aimed at saving an estimated $100,000 in overtime costs, according to Capt. Robert Carlson. A former administrator at the Bangor lockup, Carlson was asked to return until the county names a successor for former administrator Capt. Cheryl Gallant, who left to become a consultant.

According to Carlson and Sheriff Glenn Ross, wage adjustments that went into effect over the past year helped resolve staff turnover at the jail.

The new scheduling plan, they said, would dramatically reduce “force outs,” which Carlson defined as overtime put in by workers forced to stay beyond the scheduled end of their shifts to fill in for colleagues who call in sick or otherwise are unable to work.

The new plan also would give all employees every other weekend off. Time off for weekends and holidays now is allocated by seniority.

Divided into four crews, staff would work three shifts one week and four shifts the next week, on an alternating basis. That would average out to 42 hours a week for most workers. The change would eliminate the challenges of managing employees working their choice of eight-, 10- and 12-hour shifts and provide nighttime supervision, Carlson said.