With the new increased rate at the local juvenile detention center for housing out-of-county offenders predicted to bring in about a million dollars by the end of the year, Judge Betsy Cotton is curious why the center’s pay scale structure cannot be accommodated.
The Yazoo County Board of Supervisors approved the rate increase of $200 per juvenile, per day, last December to see what revenue increase it could produce in holding out-of-county offenders. Last August, Cotton said the rate increase brought in close to $450,000. And she predicts it will reach a million dollars by the end of the year.
The revenue collected by the rate increase could be used to implement a rank structure at the juvenile detention center with adjusted pay scales for its employees,” Cotton said.
“Everybody is a jailer,” Cotton said. “And it doesn’t matter how long they have been there, they all make the same money. It should be structured.”
Supervisor David Peyton said the ranking structure wasn’t the problem. It was the financial obligations that came with it considering the county had already begun its new fiscal year’s budget.
“Well, what was the point of increasing it to $200 a day,” Cotton asked. “What is the point of continuing to bring in the income if our people don’t benefit?”
Cotton added that the ranked pay scale was included in her budget request for the new fiscal year.
“We got nothing additional from the state, so we had to do the same budget that we used the year before,” said Supervisor Joseph Thomas Jr. “Everything remained the same, with no increases for anybody. A lot of things that people wanted, we just couldn’t do.”
Cotton questioned where the collected revenue from the new juvenile detention center’s rate went within the county budget.
“What happens to the money we have brought in already with the detention center this year,” Cotton asked. “We are looking at having a million dollars’ worth income coming through by the end of the year if not more, which would be way more than our budget is for the whole year.”
County Administrator Donna Kraft said it is put into the county’s general fund.
“You can’t base a budget for any department based on what that department brings in because it all goes into the general fund,” Kraft said. “It’s all revenue. That would be like basing (Road Manager Jim Warrington’s) budget on whatever revenue he brings in. Then his budget would be zero.”
Thomas reminded Cotton that the county also installed on a new roof on the center.
“But you have to do that,” Cotton said.
“The money had to come from somewhere,” Thomas replied.
Thomas suggested that the requested pay scale from Cotton be presented to the board for review.
