At a Friday morning Blair County commissioners budgeting session, Commissioner David Kessling announced that the county had sent a letter to the state Department of Corrections requesting an opportunity to take equipment from the closing of SCI Rockview near State College.

The recently announced closure of SCI Rockview and Quehanna Boot Camp in Clearfield County is intended as a cost-saving measure in the upcoming 2025-26 state budget and offers an opportunity for neighboring counties to repossess some of the soon-to-be unnecessary equipment, Kessling said.

By acquiring some of the furniture, commodes and other materials at low or no cost, the Blair County Prison could realize “huge savings” on its annual maintenance budget, he said.

According to Kessling, many of the cells in the county prison currently use ceramic toilets, which are prone to break and frequently require complete replacement if damaged.

The units in SCI Rockview are modern combined toilet/sink units made of stainless steel and are up to current DOC specifications, he said, so if the county can acquire even 40 of them for free, it would be a savings of thousands of dollars that would have otherwise been spent replacing the outdated ceramic models.

Kessling did not have a timeframe for when the DOC would respond to the county’s request.

During the budget meeting, the commissioners and county staff discussed several areas of potential cost reduction in the proposed 2026 budget, which currently shows a deficit of more than $6 million in requested expenses against an anticipated revenue of almost $50 million.

Some of the cost-cutting measures discussed include eliminating several vacant positions that have gone unfilled for more than a year, reducing the Children, Youth and Family Services counseling budget and a number of other items.

Closing vacant positions would require an act of the county Salary Board, and the exact details of cuts to individual government departments are not yet finalized.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.