Commissioner cool toward ice cream machine purchase

An ice cream machine purchased for inmates at the Antelope County Law Enforcement Center has left one county commissioner feeling a little frosty.

The board of commissioners approved a resolution regarding the commissary fee schedule for the county jail during their meeting Tuesday, Dec. 8, in Neligh, but the vote was not unanimous.

The commissary fee schedule was on the meeting agenda due to the results of the county's annual audit report that were released last month by the Nebraska auditor of Public Accounts' Office.

The state auditor's office noted the county sheriff's office in Neligh charged a commissary fee on each item sold at the cost of the item plus a markup. However, the county board had not approved the fees.

During the 2019-2020 fiscal year, commissary fees – totaling $39,230 – were collected and remitted to the county treasurer.

The resolution regarding the commissary fee schedule will set the prices for all items sold through the commissary program at the county law enforcement center for the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

The commissary program was previously established and operated by the sheriff's office "for purchasing and providing the sale of additional personal care products, recreational products and the like to the inmates," according to the resolution.

The resolution goes on to say that the county board "further finds that the continued use of the commissary program and its proceeds would be beneficial for Antelope County and the well-being of the inmates, the facility, inmate programs and activities."

Sheriff Robert Moore told the commissioners he had looked over the resolution regarding the commissary fee schedule and was satisfied with it.

However, commissioner Dean Smith wanted more information from Moore on the commissary items' prices and markups.

"I guess, unless I misunderstood, last week or whenever you presented this to us, is this what you're charging now on these items?" Smith asked. "I thought we were going to get a list of what those items were costing."

Commissioner Carolyn Pedersen noted the state auditor's office just wanted the commissary fee schedule, but that answer did not satisfy Smith.

"I must've misunderstood," Smith said. "I thought that was coming and then we could see what the markup was. We don't know what the markup is."

Pedersen explained the state auditor's office did not need to see what the prices and markups were for the commissary items.

"All I know is, I talked to the auditor's office," Pedersen said. "They said that they would accept this fee schedule attached to the resolution."

Smith reiterated he wanted more information about the commissary items' prices and markups.

"I understood that that's what we were going to be getting," Smith said.

Moore responded, saying the state auditor's office "didn't have problem with the markup. They have a problem with no resolution in front of them."

Smith countered with, "I think we need to see what the markup is because there seems to be quite a bit of money being spent out of the commissary account, so somehow we've got to figure out how the money's coming into the commissary and what the profit margin is on the items being sold."

"It probably varies from item to item, doesn't it?" board chair Charlie Henery asked.

Smith noted he assumed the commissioners would be given a breakdown of the prices and markups of the commissary items.

"I know I was told this, and that's why this was given – the following week, we were going to receive what each of these costs so that we could see what it is because we weren't going to pay a flat 20 percent markup or anything like that," Smith said.

County clerk Lisa Payne responded to Smith, saying, "It's part of your claims that you approve. Do you want me to go back and pull claims?"

"Is that going to tell me what one item is, Lisa?" Smith asked. "I'm talking about what they're charging."

"If they charge me $18 and I have six items there, 18 divided by six is $3 apiece, I guess is what I'm thinking," Payne said. "There's your dollar amount that you're paying on an item."

"Somehow, a lot of money has come into the commissary," Smith said. "I want to see where it's coming from. I guess I don't see any charges here for a dish of soft-serve ice cream."

Commissioner Regina Krebs chimed in, saying, "Even from the auditor's standpoint, I think if we have a starting point, say, 'OK, this is what we're going to charge,' those fees can be set for the year so that they can audit those, but you still need to have an idea at where your starting point markup is.

"I understand it's not going to be, you know, we're going to mark up every item 20 percent," she said. "You cannot do that, but you do need a starting point."

Pedersen reiterated the state auditor's office did not need to see what the prices and markups were for the commissary items.

Smith noted he has a "financial responsibility" as a commissioner, saying, "Part of what we're supposed to oversee is the finances of the county."

"There was a claim that came through last month that was – unbeknownst to me anyway – for an over $8,000 soft-serve ice cream machine out of the commissary," Smith said. "It was bought out of the commissary."

Smith could not recall Moore ever approaching the commissioners to ask for permission to purchase the ice cream machine.

"Why was that not brought to the board?" Smith asked. "Are we selling dishes of soft-serve ice cream then?"

Pedersen noted she talked with Moore, who told her the commissary funds were "fairly high and he had the opportunity to purchase this ice cream machine. I don't know if he talked to anybody else. He did visit with me.

"I don't believe the ice cream is sold on commissary," she said. "It's served at the meal. That soft-serve ice cream? Is it sold on commissary or is it just served with a meal?"

"I think they're going to work towards that, but it's served with meals right now," Moore said.

"How did you feel that it was all right just to come through as a claim over $8,000 for a soft-serve ice cream machine?" Smith asked.

"Because we're spending on the inmates," Moore said of the commissary funds. "That is by statute. That has to be spent on the inmates – period. Can't use it anywhere else, Dean. Everything we've got – we've got a popcorn machine up there. Bought that.

"It's through the inmates," he said. "It's through the profit of that. The board has nothing but the approval of the claim of what is in there and it has to go directly to the inmates. There has to be a road that leads back."

"You purchase their clothing and shoes and stuff out of the commissary?" Henery asked Moore.

"Absolutely," Moore said. "That account was all created to do that, to take the burden off the back of the taxpayers."

Moore asked Payne to look up how much money the county jail's commissary program had at that point in time, which was $37,436.85.

"There's more than enough money to buy the ice cream machine," Moore said. "There's more than enough money to buy the popcorn machine.

"There's more than enough money to buy the ice machine that's up there," he said. "There's more than enough money to buy inmates clothing."

Moore expressed his frustration to the commissioners, saying, "We keep getting attacked in this office."

"We are trying to do right by the taxpayers of this county," Moore said. "We are trying to build funds that do not put a burden on the taxpayers' back."

He explained the commissary program has been a good addition to the county law enforcement center.

"It's things like that that take the pressure off of acting-out inmates – things that we do up there that bring them into compliance," Moore said.

"They actually govern one another by saying, 'Don't screw up this week because we're going to' whatever," he said. "The bottom line is that it works. It's been wonderful."

He noted the Nebraska Jail Standards program has been calling the sheriff's office to have other law enforcement agencies learn from its commissary program.

"I'm just here to tell you that the program works," Moore said. "It's good."

He assured the commissioners that the commissary program has been audited annually by the state auditor's office for the past six years.

"That commissary program has been audited by the state auditor," Moore said. "That's the top dog. There are no issues, except that we needed to have this resolution."

Commissioner Eli Jacob made a motion to approve the resolution regarding the commissary fee schedule, with Pedersen seconding the motion.

Henery, Jacob, Krebs and Pedersen voted in favor of the motion, while Smith voted against it.