Massac County Jail Cuts Costs by Clipping Coupons
By
Stephanie Tyrpak
By
Jared Roberts
Story Created:
Jan 27, 2012 at 5:21 PM CST
Story Updated:
Jan 27, 2012 at 6:03 PM CST
METROPOLIS -- The Massac County Sheriff's Department was forced to make cuts due to county budget woes. But in the last month, the department has found new savings wrapped inside an ongoing expense.
For more than 20 years, the jail has been using lots of frozen food to keep costs down. Now, they're trimming the budget even further with the help of coupons.
"Anything we can do to keep an officer, or a deputy, or a dispatcher," said Jail Administrator John Konemann.
"I've already got two people laid off," said Sheriff Ted Holder. "We don't know week to week if I'm going to have to layoff anybody else."
A big chunk of the department's expense goes toward food, specifically Banquet TV dinners.
Frozen meals have been the main course served at the jail since the 1980s, and food expenses total more than $90,000 a year.
The County Jail holds 42 inmates. They serve three meals a day, and the jail purchases 500 frozen food items each week.
"The food bill is a lot more now than it has been in the past," said Sheriff Holder.
When Konemann discovered coupons inside the meal boxes, he decided to put them to use.
"Times are hard right now," said Konemann. "Couponing seems to be a way to help."
Sheriff Ted Holder can't believe the savings.
"I thought well, $25-$30," said Sheriff Holder. "It's a nice idea, but it's really not going to amount to anything."
Now a month into the program, the jail has saved $400.
"We're talking about saving $5000-$6000 a year," said Sheriff Holder.
Trustee inmates in charge of cooking tear off the discounts and pile them up for Konemann to use on food orders. The last batch included more than 300 coupons.
"That's going to feed extra inmates and be less money out of the taxpayers pocket," said Sheriff Holder.
One reason food cost having been going up for the department is more inmates in the jail. According to Sheriff Holder, the jail was overcapacity almost every day last year.
Now the department is hoping the coupons inside the meals will last, while searching for better deals across their budget.
"I can guarantee we're going to start looking harder," said Sheriff Holder. "If there's any other coupons out there we can use in this building, we're going to use them."
The department has also been able to cut about a thousand dollars from office supplies.
The jail is not able to take food donations. However, if you have some coupons to share, just drop them off at the Massac County Sheriff's Department.
