Regional Jail’s Board Discusses Budget Shortfall

The Hampton Roads Regional Jail’s governing body met Wednesday to discuss how to make up a projected budget shortfall in the coming fiscal year.

A 2015 annual budget presentation put together by the authority proposes an increase in the amount cities pay the authority of $8 per inmate, per day.

The authority is also looking into housing inmates from other municipalities, said Andrew Protogyrou, a Norfolk city councilman and chairman of the regional jail authority.

Each of the jail’s four member cities – Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk and Portsmouth – has a contract with it to pay for a set number of inmates each day at a certain rate.

The authority, composed of representatives from its member cities, freed up about $2.5 million Wednesday to cover its expenses by reducing its reserve fund from 25 percent of its total expenditures to 16.67 percent.

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