The following analysis, provided by the Compensation Board, details the recommendations of Governor McAuliffe in his FY 2015 – 2018 budget.
FY16 Caboose Bill (HB29/SB29) Budget Amendments
Jails
– Recommended jail inmate per diem funding of $11.3 million is included for FY16, which represents the amount requested based upon revised growth percentages approved by the Inmate Population Forecasting Committee for local and state responsible inmates.
FY17/18 Budget Bill (HB30/SB30) Budget Proposals
All Constitutional Officers
– Additional funding of $11.8 million in the second year is included for a two percent (2%) across-the-board pay increase for all Constitutional Officers, Regional Jail Superintendents, Finance Directors and their Compensation Board funded employees, effective August 1, 2017, contingent upon fiscal year 2017 year-end revenue;
– No additional funding or positions are included to address staffing standards;
– No performance based increases are included for constitutional officers and their employees in FY17 or FY18.
– Base adjustment funding of $11.8 million in each year is provided as a technical item to fully annualize the two percent salary increase for Constitutional Officers, Regional Jails Superintendents, Finance Directors and the Compensation Board funded employees, provided on September 1, 2015;
– Base adjustment funding of $958,771 in each year is provided as a technical item to continue to support the increased cost of retiree health insurance credit contributions for constitutional officers and their employees, payable by the Compensation Board. The partial contribution amount of $805,450 that is currently recovered from locality reimbursements is anticipated to remain unchanged.
Sheriffs and Regional Jails
– Additional funding of $3.6 million in the first year and $8.6 million in the second year is provided to address salary compression in Sheriffs’ offices and Regional Jails through salary increases effective January 1, 2017. Sworn deputies and Regional Jail officers with three or more years of continuous service will receive $80 for each full year of service, up to a maximum of thirty years. Non-sworn employees who have a minimum of three years of continuous service will receive $65 for each full year of service, up to a maximum of thirty years;
– Additional funding of $1,878,042 is included in each year to allow additional participation in the Sheriffs’ and Regional Jails’ Master Deputy/Jail Officer Programs;
– Additional funding of $28,552 is included in each year to allow additional participation in the Sheriffs’ Accreditation Program;
– Additional $2.0 million in the first year and $2.2 million in the second year in funding and positions is provided to support jail expansion projects in the Central Virginia Regional Jail (opening August 1, 2016) and Pamunkey Regional Jail (opening July 1, 2016);
– Language approved by the 2015 General Assembly that provided that the Compensation Board is also authorized to withhold reimbursements due the locality for sheriff and jail expenses upon notification from the Superintendent of State Police that the sheriff’s office of that locality is not complying with the requirements of transmittal of information to the Sex Offender and Crimes Against Minors Registry has been revised to require that sheriffs certify their compliance and eliminates the oversight/notification by the Superintendent of State Police;
– No funding or positions were included to support the expansion of the Chesapeake City Jail which is scheduled to be completed in February, 2017 (FY18).
Jails
– No additional funding was recommended for the projected need of $10.4 million in FY17 and $11.1 million in FY18 for jail inmate per diem payments, based upon revised growth percentages provided by the Inmate Population Forecasting Committee, for local and state responsible inmates.
Commonwealth’s Attorneys
– Additional funding of $566,501 is included in each year to support qualified and unfunded participation in the Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Career Prosecutor Program;
– Language has been stricken that restricted any treasurer not contracting to collect fines and fees on a contingency fee basis as of January 1, 2015 from being compensated on a contingency fee basis, and that allowed only those treasurers that currently collect on a contingency fee basis to do so until January 1, 2018.
Circuit Court Clerks
– Additional funding of $1 million in general funds is included to reduce the amount of non-general Technology Trust Funds that is presently used to offset prior reductions to Clerks’ operating budgets. Language currently allows for up to $3.79 million in non-general technology trust funds to be used to offset these funding reductions in each year. Revised language will allow a transfer of up to $2.79 million in each year (in practical terms, only $2.79 million is currently used for this offset, and this appropriation will allow for only $1.79 million to be used for the offset);
– Funding of $311,292 is included in each year to support qualified participation in the Circuit Court Clerks’ Career Development Program;
– Funding of $307,525 is included in each year to support qualified participation in the Circuit Court Clerks’ Deputy Career Development Program.
Treasurers
– Additional funding of $93,144 is included in each year to support qualified and unfunded participation in the Treasurers’ Career Development Program;
– Additional funding of $39,169 is included in each year to support qualified and unfunded participation in the Deputy Treasurers’ Career Development Program.
– As noted under Commonwealth’s Attorneys, language has been stricken that restricted any treasurer not contracting to collect fines and fees on a contingency fee basis as of January 1, 2015 from being compensated on a contingency fee basis, and that allowed only those treasurers that currently collect on a contingency fee basis to do so until January 1, 2018.
Finance Directors
– No program specific changes were included in the Governor’s Budget Bill recommendations.
Commissioners
– Additional funding of $112,780 is included in each year to support qualified and unfunded participation in the Commissioners’ Career Development Program;
– Additional funding of $124,835 is included in each year to support qualified and unfunded participation in the Deputy Commissioners’ Career Development Program.
Administration
– Base budget adjustments to administrative items totaling a reduction of $193,169 are included to address changes to benefits rates, information technology costs, annualizing of salary and compression increases provided in FY15, and the distribution of budget reduction savings;
– Introduced budget adjustments to administrative items include:
Additional funding of $141,345 in the first year and $147,328 in the second year to support costs associated with the new Cardinal accounting system;
Additional $18 in the first year and $33 in the second year to changes to the allocation of workers’ compensation premiums.
– Language is included directing the Compensation Board to withhold $80,000 from amounts recovered from localities for the costs of the VARISK liability premiums for sheriffs and regional jails to fund the cost of training on managing risk in jails.
Other Agencies
– Additional funding of $2.5 million in each year is provided to Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to establish pilot programs in local and regional jails to provide services to mentally ill inmates, or to provide pre-incarceration crisis intervention services to prevent mentally ill citizens from entering jails;
– Additional funding of $1.6 million and 19 FTE in each year is provided to Department of Corrections to establish six pilot re‐entry programs for state responsible offenders housed in, and released from, local and regional jails.
– Budget language is added to direct the Division of Risk Management to require their actuary to incorporate such factors as claims information by specific office, staffing in all offices and average daily inmate populations in jails into their determinations of premium costs under the VARISK liability program, and the Division of Risk Management is to report to the Compensation Board individual office premium amounts for the program.
VACo Contact: Dean Lynch, CAE