Criminals aren't being freed, but the money used to house them in the county jail is.

Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler announced Thursday that money formerly set aside to house prisoners at the county jail, will be freed up by a new agreement.

Beutler says he expects the City Council to approve the county-city agreement on the jail funding this Monday, and he's calling on city leaders to save the money no longer needed.

Now the city of Lincoln pays Lancaster County to keep its prisoners in the county jail, like paying rent. But the city is joining with the county to pay for a new jail, meaning a new mortgage payment for the city.

Now the money the city used for the rent could now be used for something else.

"The joint public agency freed up 1.4 million dollars in the city budget that was formerly needed to pay for the housing of prisoners in the county jail. The new arrangement means this payment is no longer necessary," Beutler said.

Beutler says the city needs to save that money for other needs during uncertain economic times.

"That money represents a potential opportunity to end our city budget's structural imbalance. It would allow us to enter the next budget cycle with an eye towards the future, instead of an eye to the past," said Beutler.

And City Budget Officer Steve Hubka says recent reports of tax receipts from 2008 show a good reason to be conservative.

"The first month wasn't very good, the second month wasn't very good, and the third month was OK. But that only goes through the period of the end of September. The next receipt that we get will be for the month of October, and that's when things really got bad," said Hubka.

Hubka says it's important to see how the the market hits Lincoln in the next several months before choosing how to spend the money, and Mayor Beutler agrees.

"There are simply too many unknowns to go on a spending spree or to reduce the levy. We do not know how our sales tax projections will hold up in a very different national economy," said Beutler.

The mayor says he does plan to involve the community in deciding how to allocate the money, most likely in the form of a community meeting where feedback would be welcome.