BELFAST – Waldo County taxpayers will be picking up the tab for a county budget nearly 9 percent higher than last year.

The county’s nine-member budget committee approved the $7,380,590 budget after a three-hour meeting Thursday evening. The spending package represents an 8.65 percent increase over last year’s budget of $6,793,171.

As is the case every year, the bulk of the budget is consumed by operating the county jail and sheriff’s department as well as employee benefits. The county has about 120 full- and part-time employees, and health insurance for that group will cost $1.2 million in 2008.

John Hyk, chairman of the county commissioners, said Sunday that the county was looking into reducing the cost of health care through innovations and finding a new carrier. He said the problems facing the county were no different than any other large employer. The cost of providing health care continues to rise and there is not much an employer can do to eliminate it.

“We’re looking into ways to save money on health care,” Hyk said. “We should know better in a couple of months.”

Hyk attributed most of the $605,511 spending increase over last year to operating the jail. Because of overcrowding at the county jail, the county has been forced to board prisoners at other institutions. He said the commissioners’ request for $800,000 for boarding prisoners in 2007 was trimmed to $550,000 by the budget committee and that resulted in a $250,000 deficit.

“As a result, we had to put money in next year’s budget to cover that deficit,” Hyk said.

Hyk added that although Sheriff Scott Story estimated it would cost $1.1 million to board prisoners in 2008, the budget committee reduced that budget line to $800,000. The total cost of running the jail was set at $2,446,700, an increase of 23 percent over last year’s figure of $1,988,311.

“The county has no control over the number of inmates and how long they are incarcerated. That’s decided by the Legislature and the courts,” Hyk said. “A lot of the people we have in jail are not guilty of anything. They are just sitting there waiting to go to trial. Others are mentally ill and should not even be in jail. There isn’t a more expensive way to make them worse.”

The budget for the sheriff’s department was set at $1,036,281, a 4 percent increase over last year’s $997,333 budget line. The Waldo County Regional Communications Center budget was set at $656,500, a 1 percent increase over last year.

Hyk said the institution of 911 emergency calling greatly expanded the demands on both departments. He said that the county responds to thousands of calls annually and it was an expensive proposition to train dispatchers.

“We have a hard time finding part-time dispatchers. It requires training and it’s expensive. It takes almost a year to train a dispatcher. It’s on the job training so you’re paying for two people while one of them learns how to do the job.”

Hyk said the county was growing and the cost of providing services was keeping pace. He said residents expect services and the county has to respond accordingly. The rising costs of heating oil and gasoline also have affected the budget and will continue to do so, he said.

“It’s inflation and it’s growth. The county is not getting any smaller or any cheaper to run.” Hyk said. “We’re trying to reach a balance where it’s fair to the taxpayers and fair to the employees.”