ALFRED — York County government will attempt to convince the state Board of Corrections that it should be reimbursed for administrative costs it provides to York County Jail.

But the figures the county government turned over to the jail for submission to the state corrections board won’t be the ones considered.

That is because Sheriff Maurice Ouellette and Jail Administrator Michael Vitiello lowered the amount by nearly $83,000.

 Ouellette on Tuesday said he could not in good conscience support the $184,000 figure supplied to him by the county’s finance director because the county had testified in state hearings that the expense was less than the figures later produced. As well, Ouellette said he thought some of the figures were off the mark.

Ouellette said during public hearings on L.D.1745, a jail bill that ultimately died on the state Appropriations table, county officials testified before the Legislature’s Criminal Justice committee that it cost the county $120,000 to $135,000 annually for county workers to process accounts payable, payroll and information technology for York County Jail.

But figures prepared by Finance Director Victoria Ridlon March 17 and later and distributed to the county manager and county commissioners show the figure at nearly $184,000. Ridlon’s report pegs her services to the jail as finance director as 50 percent of her workload. As well, the information technologist spends about 50 percent of his time on jail-related work and 75 percent of the workload of the accounts payable clerk and the payroll clerk are jail issues.

The jail employs about 100 individuals. County Manager Richard Brown said jail staff work varied hours and noted the operation is 24 hours a day with three shifts, as opposed to non-jail county workers whose shifts are regular and paychecks easier to calculate. He said the jail generates most of the county’s worker’s compensation and health insurance claims and “they have the most difficulty producing purchase orders on time,” which contributes to the workload.

Ouellette estimated Tuesday the figure he and jail administrator Michael Vitiello submitted was slightly more than $100,000.

County commissioners questioned the change at a meeting earlier this month.

“What happened, this report seems reasonable,” asked Commissioner Gary Sinden.

Ouellette explained the earlier testimony showing a $120,000 to $135,000 cost.

“Col. Vitiello and I looked at them and we thought ($184,000 figure) was too healthy. I think some percentages are off,” Ouellette told county commissioners.

He said he doesn’t believe the information technologist spends 50 percent of his time at the jail.

And, Ouellette said Tuesday, “ $183,000 was not a viable number.”

He said the $120,000 to $130,000 provided in testimony to the Criminal Justice Committee was a best guess ”“ and then he and Vitiello sat and crunched the numbers.

Since the county jails were consolidated with the state prison system, York County has argued that the jail, which has a budget separate from the rest of the county, should reimburse county for the work it does on the jail’s behalf.

Since consolidation, the counties pay the tab for jail operations ”“ in York County’s case $8.667 million annually, but budgets are overseen by the Board of Corrections.

A prior attempt to have the county’s jail-related administrative expenses be paid through the jail’s budget failed to pass muster with the state corrections board. There was no word on when the issue will be heard.

At the meeting Brown said he expects if the corrections board approves an amount, it will be less than $100,000.

“We’ll find out what they think the service is really worth,” he said.

— Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.