County budgets and toilet paper have one thing in common: Every little bit helps.
That's why leaders in Des Moines County will consider an idea to charge jail inmates for bathroom tissue to help wipe away a $1.7 million deficit next year.
The decision was driven, in part, by a Board of Supervisors edict that gave department heads an option: Cut costs or face employee furloughs or layoffs.
The county's budget director, Cheryl McVey, said billing inmates for toilet paper could save more than $2,300.
"We have to find out if it's an allowable expense," she said Thursday. "It's certainly not going to balance our budget."
McVey said she didn't know whether inmates would be charged by the sheet, square or roll. The savings estimate was provided by the maintenance department at the jail, where officials did not want to talk about the idea or where it originated.
"Can you spare a square?"
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