After dissecting the preliminary cost-benefit report from Washington consultant Joseph Summerill, I sent him the following email:
Subject: Question about your preliminary report on McHenry County
I am trying to understand the report that you gave the McHenry County Board last spring and am having a problem with page 7, which is entitled, “Jail Space vs. Jail Ops Budget, McHenry County Jail, Federal Prisoners.”
The problem I have is in the column headed, “Jail Operating Budget.”
In the column to its left, “Jail Space Rental,” I am assuming you used actual revenue.
My original assumption was that the “Jail Operating Budget” column would actual expenditures.
The day room of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement floor.
But, if so, I thought, why not label it “Jail Expenditures” or something similar.
I decided to multiply your daily average cost figure from page 5 of your presentation, $131.38, by the number of days listed on page 7 (567,736), assuming that I would get the “Jail Operating Budget” column total of $78,705,417.
To my surprise, I did not.
I got $74,589,156, instead of the $78,705,417.
So, I write to ask for clarification.
Is the correction number for Federal housing cost (expenditure)for the five years $74.6 million or $78.7 million?
Is the $78.7 million figure the money budgeted for the program for the five years you analyzed?
If one column is county income for the program and the other column is a budgetary figure, it seems like you are mixing apples and oranges.
Please explain the seeming inconsistency.
Remember the song with the line,
“Return to sender, address unknown”
Well, the email did not bounce back, but I did not get a reply.
The day after I sent the email, County Administrator Peter Austin was in Washington making the pitch for a higher reimbursement rate for the ICE detainees.
Feedback I have been getting from County Board members is that they are not at all happy at candidate Andy Zinke’s having tossed the jail deficit ICE ball into their court.
= = = = =
McHenry County Blog analysis:
When the program with ICE first started and money was flowing into the county the County Board loved it.
The fact is, the jail kept the county in the black and money brought in supported other county functions.
The Sheriffs desire was to finish the then unfinished third floor.
Bed rentals were just extra iceing.
Don’t forget the Feds paid for the third floor jail build out.
That alone was a huge savings over and above the bed rental fees.
I believe most board members with memories of the original talks will agree.
The Sheriff can not legally enter into this.type contract without board approval.
The contracts are with the County of McHenry, not the Sheriff.
Atta boy Nick.
Some fiscal watchdog you turned out to be
I really do not understand Cal’s fixation on the ICE deal.
In the bigger picture, it has been a win-win for the County and Feds.
Now, as we near the end of the 10 year contract, both sides are sizing up their changing needs and costs as negotiations begin.
So what?
Of course, conditions have changed since this contract was made 10 years ago.
Obummer has went soft on illegal immigration reducing federal need for jail beds.
County costs have increased.
So, both sides are evaluating and negotiating the future, if any, of this contract.
From what I have learned, it seems that the County has been highly proactive in these negotiations with a firm grasp of the facts and conditions for a new contract.
If Mr. Austin is truly in Washington for negotiations with ICE now, then I would guess that trip was planned long before last week’s debate and Cal.s “expose” of this “scandal”.
Of course, the County Board has a hand in this contract.
It is their primary responsibility over which they have sole authority.
Yes, the Sheriff can state his position and make recommendations, but it is the COunty Board’s decision….not Mr. Zinke or Mr. Prim.
In all of my articles about the deficit I have included the capital investment made by the Federal government.
During the five years in the Summerill analysis, the deficit seems to have been $5 million a year.
1. When you say “the Feds paid for it”(3rd floor jail buildout, who do you think the “Feds” are? that’s us, the taxpayers, who else funds this and all of the other Federal failures around the U.S.?
2. Why should Mr. Austin be in D.C. asking for a larger reimbursemet (more $ out of our “federal” checkbooks) when there are 2 Wisconsin facilities that can house these prisoners for less? If the Feds don’t use our Federal taxes more wisely and use the Wisconsin facilities, then that says something about our U.S. Reps and Senators. Or, why hasn’t the Sheriff’s Dept looked into cost saving ways to reduce their fees to compete with Wisconsin? Guess it’s just easier to ask for more money(from the taxpayers), whether they be local or federal.
3. Ask any County Board member what would happen if they denied a request, or should I say ultimatum, from the Sheriff? it wouldn’t be pretty, I think.
Odd that you have treated that report as gospel in your attacks on Zinke, while others have pointed out that it is not only vague it what it claims to represent but the numbers don’t even pass very simple check.
I guess…congrats on noticing the math in the report doesn’t add up and asking what it might represent after already launching attacks assuming what it meant…?
But- anyone that can add and subtract can see the loss. What did Zinke say “You never make money off of the government.” You sure as heck can loose money.
Not exactly true James K.
We don’t know what all the salesman was putting into his jail expenditure numbers.
If it is all expenses of the complete jail then of course the revenue side of the jail only subsidizes the other side…either way we are left to assume as the numbers are vague and don’t add up.
So the one thing anyone can add and subtract can see is the numbers in this “report” don’t add up.
1) should we be happier to see $6.5M go elsewhere and then have to pay it to the county when we need the buildout?
2) It sounds like Austin is attempting to renegotiate the contract. That’s for NOW, whether to let the feeds go elsewhere is for later.
3) What are you smoking?