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| Supervisor says jail study needed |
| By The Post Crescent |
| Published: 10/10/2003 |
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An Outagamie County, Wis. Board committee chairman said he wants a review of the county jail's rental business before he endorses any new building plan. Supv. Dean Culbertson said he will oppose County Executive Toby Paltzer's bid to spend up to $117,200 next year on an architectural study of a proposed renovation of the Appleton Police Department that would provide new offices for the county sheriff. Paltzer's proposed capital improvement plan, released with his budget last Wednesday, calls for the county to contribute $4.6 million on the joint building plan in 2005. Culbertson, noting the declining local jail population and the county's dwindling profit potential from renting jail beds, said the county should explore converting jail space into office space at the Justice Center before pursuing building options. Paltzer said he would not fight to retain the study funding in the 2004 budget if the County Board wants more time. Paltzer's plan estimates the county's annual operating costs resulting from the project would increase by $191,600 in 2007, when the new administrative space would become usable, and $197,300 in 2008, when the county's total investment surpasses $5 million. The joint facility would allow the sheriff's department offices to move from the Justice Center, enabling an expansion of the district attorney's office and construction of new courtrooms. Culbertson said the county does not need to commit to the joint building project before the city begins preparing its own 2005 budget. His committee will discuss the merits of the jail-rental program Oct. 14, he said. Paltzer's executive assistant Sherri McNamara said the county has yet to formally evaluate any plan to convert jail space for office use. The county's local jail population was surging until last year, when incarceration policy reforms reversed the trend. Sheriff Brad Gehring plans to house 100 state inmates per day at the Justice Center in 2004, collecting state rental revenue of $49.96 per inmate day, or a total $1.8 million next year. Meanwhile, a 2002 study by county Finance Director Ed Czaja showed the county's gross daily costs for housing a state inmate was $48.75 in 2001. In 2002, when the county's revenue was $53.66 per prisoner day, the county's costs rose to an estimated $55.85, an annual increase of 14.6 percent. Assuming 5 percent annual increases since, the county's gross cost for housing a single state inmate will be $61.57 in 2004. The county then would be housing 100 state prisoners at a net loss of $11.61 per inmate day, a total net loss of $424,000 next year. Czaja noted the operating cost of the jail, configured on three floors of the Justice Center, is relatively fixed, regardless of its occupancy levels. The 556-bed jail reported occupancy of 405 on Sept. 23, including 80 state inmates. |
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