Tulsa County commissioners may change how the jail’s daily rate is calculated.
Commissioner John Smaligo proposes a formula that would use costs at the county’s largest municipal jail to determine what cities should pay for using the county jail.
"It averages ratios between the City of Broken Arrow and the City of Tulsa, based on the total number of bookings and the overall population," Smaligo said. "And the reason why I chose Broken Arrow is because of the fact that they operate the largest municipal jail in Tulsa County."
The board of county commissioners deferred a vote on the proposal until next week. The new formula would only apply to cities without a current agreement with the county. Right now, that’s just the City of Tulsa.
Smaligo said negotiations with the the city over the rate have been going on too long.
"I'm not confident that those negotiations will get us to a point where there is true equity and fairness in the amount that the City of Tulsa is paying for municipal jail services," Smaligo said.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett disputes how the current daily rate was calculated.