Never one to hide his feelings, Gaffney Mayor Henry Jolly thinks it may be time to renegotiate the jail contract with the county despite Gaffney City Council recent unanimous approval of the new jail fee rate.

The contract was signed in the mid-90s to coincide with the construction of the new county detention center. Prior to the new detention center, the city housed its inmates at its own facility.

According to the jail agreement, the city pays a per diem rate to house its prisoners at the county facility. The per diem rate is based on the previous fiscal year's over- all operational costs at the county jail.

This year, it will cost the city $50.10 a day to house an inmate at the detention center - up nearly $6 from the previous rate of $44.32 and sparking the mayor's call to consider renegotiating the contract. Jolly did add that he was unaware when the contract expired.

County officials said costs jumped substantially last year, in part, because of salary increases for jail workers and a hike in the jail bond payment from $575,000 to $600,000.

Another reason for the increase is that those costs were spread among fewer inmates.

"The fewer the inmates the more the per diem cost," Cherokee County Interim Administrator Ben Clary said.

Several years ago, a jail fees controversy erupted when the city's finance committee balked at paying the county's proposed jail fee that rose from $32.81 to $42.17 per inmate.

The two sides wrangled for more than six months before the city agreed to pay the fees, which dropped after a computer glitch was discovered that overestimated the number of days city prisoners were housed at the detention center.