Riley County Clerk Rich Vargo told commissioners on Nov. 10 that rising inmate medical and off-site housing costs have driven the corrections fund into a deficit that will require an immediate intra-fund transfer.

Vargo said staff will "definitely gonna have to transfer around $300,000 from general into the RCPD fund to cover expenditures that were statutorily obligated to pay." He added the county is already "$77,000 over in inmate medical," noting that the county cannot typically control those costs once incurred.

The clerk presented year-to-date budget snapshots and wage and overtime comparisons through October. He said the county uses an 83.33%-of-year-used barometer to flag departments approaching budget thresholds and that several enterprise funds and service lines remain within expected ranges. Still, RCPD (the county jail/detention budget line identified in the presentation) shows building maintenance, physician and off-site inmate housing costs as the main drivers of the overage.

Vargo cautioned commissioners that the change does not reflect discretionary spending but "the cost of doing business to provide those services to our community," and that staff will bring a formal budget amendment and transfer request to adjust appropriations later in November.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about specific line items, including a $31,000 pull-balance account and how the county tracks inmate medical expenses. Vargo said staffing and emergency-service overtime levels have been managed and that some high overtime percentages are tied to long-running 24/7 services such as EMS.

Next steps: Finance staff will prepare the formal budget amendment and the proposed $300,000 transfer for commission action in an upcoming meeting. The clerk said he would follow up with commissioners on any additional questions about the reports presented.