CHATSWORTH, Ga. - Murray County spent $11 million on a state-of-the-art jail expansion, but now can't pay for the 15 to 20 positions needed to open it.
Like many counties, Murray is struggling to make it out of 2010 with a budget that is in the black. Sole Commissioner David Ridley is trying to shore up a projected $800,000 budget shortfall.
Meanwhile, plans to move into the jail, which was paid for with proceeds from a special 1-cent sales tax, are on hold.
"We hope we can get into it by the end of the year when more revenue starts coming in," said Murray County Chief Deputy Ray Sitton. "We're ready to move in now."
The expansion will boost the current jail's capacity by 120 inmates, Chief Sitton said, which means the department needs more guards.
Right now, Murray County's jail can house 160 inmates. With more than 280 beds, the county will be able to house not only its own inmates but those from other counties, Chief Sitton said.
But instead of hiring, the county must make serious budget cuts and find more revenue, Mr. Ridley said.
"We met with all the department heads and gave them budget worksheets and said they had two weeks to come up with some cuts," Mr. Ridley said.
Department heads trimmed $417,000, but that still leaves a hole. County workers already have been asked to take six furlough days over the next five months, Mr. Ridley said.
With the budget cut to the bone already, Mr. Ridley is pretty much ruling out any chance the county will soon occupy the new jail unless sales tax revenue sees a fourth-quarter spike.
"It's a month-to-month situation," Mr. Ridley said. "It would be really nice if we were up $200,000 to $300,000 by the end of the year, but we could also be down that much."
If the county finds itself in that kind of hole, Mr. Ridley could get a loan based on future tax collection estimates, but that's not ideal.
"When you borrow money, you have to pay it back with interest," Mr. Ridley said. "And right now, if we borrowed half a million dollars, we aren't sure we'd collect that much."
So far, according to Mr. Ridley, most folks have been patient about the move-in delays.
"For the most part, people understand the crisis we are in," Mr. Ridley said.