OREGON — Early discussions by an Ogle County Commission task force aimed at ensuring the county's future financial stability have focused on increasing landfill revenues and reducing expenses at the Ogle County Jail, possibly by closing the jail.
Closing the jail is one of many options being considered, but no decision has been made yet, said Ogle County Commissioner Jeff Billeter, who chairs the fiscal task force and the finance, revenue and insurance committee.
“We're faced with a financial challenge that we have to come up with an answer to,” Billeter said. “We want to make sure we come up with the right answer, but in order to do that we have to fully explore all options.”
Task force members have different opinions, but they are all trying to be proactive and will look to other counties for examples of consolidating services, Billeter said. “We're going to do everything we can to balance the budget, not cut services and not increase taxes, which is a big challenge,” Billeter added.
The prison, located at 601 W. Washington St. in Oregon, opened in early 2021.
The jail has 157 beds and averages about 40 inmates a day, Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle said, adding that the population count is done in the middle of the night and doesn't take into account inmates who come and go at other times during the day.
VanVickle said it costs a little more than $2.09 million a year to operate the jail. The Stephenson and Boone county jails both cost about $3.05 million a year to operate.
“We've been very responsible with our tax dollars,” VanVickle said. “If there's a better way, we're open to discussing it, but housing them is not an option.” [inmates] “Moving to another facility is a better option, especially considering we have a new facility with modern equipment.”
While cutting prison-related spending isn't the task force's sole focus, it is a big part of the discussions, Billeter said.
“When it comes to big pieces, that's where you look first,” he said of county spending. “You look at it from biggest to smallest. No matter how many paperclips you save, it's not going to change anything.”
Billeter said the county has about $8.4 million in bonds remaining to pay off for the jail construction, as well as other expenses such as day-to-day administrative costs. Funding is set aside to pay off the bond outstanding in fiscal year 2025, but there are still three years of payments to consider after that, he said.
Ogle County has historically used revenue from waste disposal fees generated by the Orchard Hills Landfill to pay off the bonds, but that revenue has declined in recent years, Billeter said.
Billeter said the fee is what waste companies pay to dump their waste in Ogle County and Davis Junction, where the landfill is located, and the county and Davis Junction share the profits.
Billeter did not know how much revenue waste fees have generated in recent years.
Billeter said negotiations are ongoing with Waste Management, which owns the Orchard Hills Landfill. If the county can reach a longer-term agreement on waste disposal fees, “things will be a lot better,” he said.
“This is an old problem and it's a problem that many counties in Illinois face — not enough revenue and too much spending,” Billeter said.
