In the first month of a new fiscal year, the Douglas County Department of Corrections is more than half a million dollars over budget.
Department administrators are looking into the $568,766 overage. Director of Corrections Michael Myers said the timing of multiple invoices related to personnel medical costs is a likely factor.
Douglas County typically enters a spending “block out” at the end of the fiscal year, potentially pushing medical invoices into the new year, Myers said during a Douglas County Commissioners meeting Tuesday.
“We will be continuing to monitor this closely and we are working with our staff for various options for efficiencies to bring us back within our budgetary expectations,” Myers said.
Commissioner James Cavanaugh raised concerns about the overage.
“If we’re a month into the fiscal year and you’re more than half a million over budget, how does that happen?” Cavanaugh asked Myers.
The director of corrections assured Cavanaugh he would track down an answer.
Douglas County approved a $636.5 million budget for the fiscal year in late July – a 10% increase over the previous fiscal year. Douglas County Corrections was allocated $66.5 million, about two-thirds of which goes toward personnel costs.
Myers also shared an update on the department’s mental health facility during Tuesday’s meeting. The 35,000-square-foot, three-story addition to the county jail at 17th and Jackson streets broke ground in August 2024. Last month, construction crews placed the building’s final steel beam.
The project, funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, is expected to be complete in 2026.
“Concrete is being poured for the floors and the exterior of the building should be finished sometime this fall,” Myers said.
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