Norfolk city manager seeks regional jail audit

NORFOLK

Norfolk City Manager Regina V.K. Williams wants to audit the Hampton Roads Regional Jail because of worries over the facility's long-term financial health and its rising cost.

Williams' request comes as officials in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton and Newport News consider the biggest hike in eight years to the daily fee they pay to house inmates at the jail.

The jail's governing authority - which includes each city's manager and sheriff, plus representatives from each city's council - is scheduled to vote on the rate increase today. The jail has requested the extra revenue in part to offset losses from the declining number of immigration detainees held there by the federal government.

The sheriffs from Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News have opposed the rate increase, saying the jail's administration hasn't done enough to cut expenses. The sheriffs also run local city jails and have been coping with their own funding cuts.

Williams told the Norfolk City Council last week that without structural changes in how the Regional Jail does business, the daily fee the city pays for each inmate will jump to $63 from $38 in six years. That would increase Norfolk's annual payment to the jail for housing 250 inmates to nearly $5.8 million from $3.5 million.

Each member city would see similar rate increases, but the total cost would vary because Newport News and Hampton house fewer inmates and Portsmouth, as the jail's host city, receives a discount - $6.30 less per inmate.

Williams compared the jail to the Southeastern Public Service Authority, which disposes of waste in South Hampton Roads and has seen exploding debt levels and rapidly escalating fees.

"We need to get a handle on costs," she said. "If not, this could turn into another SPSA."

Williams said she wants Norfolk city auditor John Sanderlin to chair a group of auditors from the other cities to take a thorough look at the jail's finances. She said the group would report back in November with recommendations on cost saving and "recommend steps to bring long-term financial stability."

Portsmouth City Councilman Steve Heretick, a member of the jail authority, said the jail is already audited annually and consistently earns high marks. He said he would welcome another audit but questioned the ability of city auditors to properly analyze the jail's operations.

"Auditors, by and large, are accountants, and bean counting is not always the highest way to protect public safety," he said.

Hampton City Manager Mary B. Bunting, who chairs the jail's finance committee, said she has been satisfied with the past independent audits on the jail's finances and operations but didn't have a problem with Norfolk wanting to take another look.

However, Bunting said she would need to know more about the scope of the proposed audit before she would commit her city's resources to it.

Heretick said the jail's rising cost to member cities is unavoidable because of falling revenues from federal detainees. That source has essentially subsidized the jail's operations for years, allowing the cities to avoid larger rate increases.

However, the number of federal immigration detainees at the jail has dropped recently as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expands its use of nondetention alternatives for immigrants. Also, a new facility under construction in Farmville will compete with the Hampton Roads Regional Jail for the remaining detainees.

Moreover, the state is reducing funding for the jail.

In the short term, Williams recommended that the city accept the $3 daily rate increase per inmate that the jail authority preliminarily approved 7-3 in December. The Norfolk City Council informally agreed.

The jail's proposed budget is about 2 percent smaller than the current one. About $740,000 was cut, putting the proposed spending plan at $31.7 million.

The plan would also draw down on a reserve fund built with money from the federal immigration detainees. Those reserves, known as the rate stabilization fund, had $7.8 million three years ago and are projected to fall to $4 million at the end of this fiscal year.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com

Dave Forster, (757) 446-2627, dave.forster@pilotonline.com