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Commission Minutes—July 28, 2023 5761 <br />2024 budget requested at $25,164,725, up $1,424,735 from 2023. He said of the increase, <br />approximately $1 million is from increases at the Jail due to increases in prisoner boarding costs. <br />inmate health services, food costs, and a general increase in the number of inmates at the Jail. Mr. <br />Frobig said he used actual costs from January 2023 to April of 2023 to estimate figures for 2024. He <br />said prisoner boarding is based on 10 inmates per day and for food costs he used the same <br />population as in 2023, however, costs per meal have increased which led to an overall increase in <br />food costs. Mr. Frobig said boarding inmates is budgeted at $85 per day and the actual cost is over <br />90 per day as entities are increasing the rate charged for prisoner housing. <br />Mr. Peterson said the Commission recently approved an increase the Cass County Jail charges to <br />house inmates. He asked if this increase is included in the 2024 budget request. Mr. Frobig said this <br />increase is not included in the 2024 budget as it was approved after the budget was submitted to the <br />Finance Office. Mr. Frobig said he would recommend a 10% increase in the revenues. Ms. Madrigga <br />said the Finance Office will increase the revenue by $140,000 for line item 6035. <br />Mr. Kapitan entered the meeting. <br />Mr. Jahner said the Sheriff's Office has lost some employees, and several positions are open. Mr. <br />Peterson said once the Jail addition is complete, many staff will be needed to staff the new pod with <br />200 beds. He said the additional staff will cost a substantial amount. Mr. Jahner said he anticipates <br />the additional staff for the Jail addition will be needed starting in January of 2025. Mr. Wilson said <br />according to the County's contract with Klein McCarthy, the addition will be complete in April of 2025. <br />Mr. Grindberg asked if a market analysis has been done on the Sheriff's Office, specifically the Jail <br />staff. Mr. Wilson said the County's salary consultant Gallagher completed a salary survey for the <br />County's overall matrix and recommended no change, however, noted differences in the County's <br />actual salaries being low likely due to the higher number of steps the County has compared to other <br />entities. Mr. Wilson said Gallagher also gave a cost estimate yesterday afternoon for the County to <br />condense the pay matrix to 12 steps and estimated the cost to be $310,000. <br />Mr. Grindberg asked why the Sheriff's Office is losing employees. Mr. Jahner said staff leave for a <br />variety of reasons such as pay with the largest reason being the nature of the work in the Jail. He <br />said it is hard work in the Jail and the nature of today's workforce is to not stay at a job for many <br />years as it was in the past. Mr. Jahner said the approximate cost to train a correctional officer is <br />11,595 and 80 people have left the Jail since January of 2020. He said many of the staff in the <br />Sheriff's Office start in a position at the Jail and move into a field deputy position. Mrs. Scherling said <br />the Sheriff's Office has nearly a $1 million retention problem. She said the Chamber and other <br />organizations are working on retention and the County needs to look at the big picture and figure out <br />a solution. <br />Mrs. Scherling said health care costs are substantial to the Sheriff's budget and the County is being <br />asked to take on Jail nursing services. She said the County should look to contract with the <br />University of North Dakota on a nurse partnership. Mr. Jahner said there are many sick people <br />coming into the Jail that are homeless, addicts, and have mental health issues. <br />Mr. Peterson asked how many vehicles are being requested for 2024. Mr. Jahner said the request is <br />for 10 new vehicles, and the Sheriff's Office will get rid of 10 vehicles. He said the Sheriff's Office will <br />shuffle cars around to get rid of vehicles with the oldest and highest miles. Mr. Peterson asked what <br />the Sheriff's Office used to estimate gas expenses. Mr. Jahner said the $287,500 gas expense is <br />figured at $5 per gallon for 57,500 gallons of gas. Mr. Peterson asked what the professional <br />consulting services for $230,000 is for. Mr. Frobig said the funds are for psychiatric services and <br />professional license fees for social workers and law enforcement. <br />Mr. Grindberg asked if the Sheriff's Office staff have bullet proof vests for protection against rifles. <br />Mr. Jahner said the Sheriff's Office got rifle body armor through a grant from Firehouse Subs a few