Although the Lincoln County Commissioners accepted the preliminary budget for Two Bridges Regional Jail, it came with a caveat:

It's not enough.

The $446,195 draft budget for 2014 doesn't involve many frills, Sheriff Todd Brackett said during the Tuesday, July 2 county commissioners meeting.

“We're proposing a $1,000 increase (from 2013), which isn't quite flat-funded, but as close as we could get,” he said.

Brackett said that, in a perfect world, he would be submitting a budget of $493,710; but, if Lincoln County increases its share in the Two Bridge's budget it could potentially leave the jail in a tough spot. It would face the possibility of having to go to the state level to make up a portion of its budget.

The Two Bridges Regional Jail budget is split between three entities: Lincoln County, Sagadahoc County and the state of Maine's board of corrections. If Lincoln County were to give more money to the jail, it would affect the other two entities.

Brackett said a mandate to flat-fund, or keep the same budget for another year, has been handed down.

The budget will be submitted to the Board of Corrections, but Brackett said he first needed the commissioners' blessing before it was submitted.

Although the commissioners approved unanimously, they voiced concerns that a budget approximately 90 percent of what the sheriff wanted wasn't where they wanted to stand.

“The third party in this is the state, and they've said they're not contributing anymore,” Chairman William Blodgett said.

The approval of the budget came with the notation that the draft was only 90 percent of what the commissioners would like to have.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 207-633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen.