By Joe Rogalsky,
Delaware State News
DOVER - Commissioner of Corrections Stanley W. Taylor laid out a $211.2 million budget proposal Wednesday for fiscal year 2006 and said more requests would be coming.
Mr. Taylor made his proposal to state budget director Jennifer W. Davis and her staff during his agency's annual budget hearing.
Mrs. Davis' budget office considers agency requests and works with Gov. Ruth Ann Minner to formulate the governor's recommended budget, which will be released in January.
Fiscal year 2006 begins July 1. The state's fiscal 2005 budget reached a record $2.6 billion.
The DOC request totals $16.7 million (8.6 percent) above the agency's fiscal 2005 allocation.
The new money would cover salary enhancements for correctional officers, hiring 32 new officers for the transportation unit and cost increases in areas such as inmate health care and prison food.
The past year has not been easy for the agency, including a prisoner escape and other security breaches.
On July 12, an inmate at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna held a prison counselor hostage and raped her. The nearly seven-hour standoff ended when a correctional officer shot and killed the inmate.
Later in the summer, correctional officers refused voluntary overtime shifts to protest low pay and staffing levels, leaving the agency's transportation unit understaffed and delaying court cases. DOC's transportation unit takes prisoners to and from court appearances and other outside appointments.
"This has been an unusual year for us, a difficult year for us," Mr. Taylor said.
"We've been in the media much more than I would like."
Though the state's revenue picture is not as dark as recent years when Gov. Minner had to cut spending in certain areas, Mrs. Davis stressed the budget situation remained tight.
"Obviously, the corrections request is big in terms of budget growth," Mrs. Davis said.
"As we work through the process, we are going to see many requests that are meritorious, but we have to recognize we have limited resources. We are going to do our due diligence and work with the governor to develop a sound financial plan."
While calling Wednesday's request "staggering already," Mr. Taylor said DOC would likely be asking for additional funds in the coming months.
A panel led by Mrs. Davis is due to report next week on the costs associated with implementing improvements to pay and staffing levels that a task force recommended last year.
A gubernatorial-appointed task force is investigating the July 12 incident and could recommend security changes that would require money from the state budget. That report is due Jan. 31, but Mr. Taylor said it could come later.
"Unlike some other years, there are still some open questions that are yet to be determined," Mr. Taylor said.
"Normally, we know what the full picture will be, but we don't yet."
Mr. Taylor's request included $2.6 million to make permanent the 5 percent raises correctional officers will receive beginning Jan. 1. Gov. Minner granted the raises in July after a study found Delaware correctional officer salaries lagged behind other states. The increase, however, would lapse in July if funding is not included in the fiscal 2006 budget.
Another $1.1 million was included to complete a two-part plan increasing the hazardous duty pay correctional officers receive by $1,200 per officer per year. The fiscal 2005 budget included $1.1 million to increase the hazardous duty pay by $600 per officer. The $1.1 million requested for fiscal 2006 would increase the pay by another $600.
"We are happy that the commissioner has included the 5 percent and the second part of the hazard duty pay," said Kevin Rolph, who heads the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware's legislative committee.
"We are waiting to see what else he comes forward with next week."
Adding the 32 court and transportation officers would insulate the agency against another work action similar to this summer's, when the officers refused the voluntary overtime shifts that DOC relied on to fully staff its court transportation unit.
Hiring those officers for the court and transport unit would cost $982,900, Mr. Taylor said. Besides court transportation, the unit also includes the Correctional Emergency Response Team and its canine officers.
When not handling court transportation duties, Mr. Taylor said, the new officers would be part of the CERT team or take on other tasks.
"We will get more than court and transportation duties out of the new positions," Mr. Taylor said.
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Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
DOC wish list
New spending requests in the Department of Correction's $211.2 million budget proposal for fiscal 2006:
l $2.6 million to make permanent the 5 percent pay raise correctional officers will get Jan. 1
l $1.8 million for increased inmate health care costs
l $1.1 million to boost hazardous duty pay by $600 per officer per year
l $982,900 to hire 32 new court transportation officers
l $580,000 for higher inmate food costs
Reposted with permission from newszap.com
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