Entrepreneurial jails and the excuses made for them: TDCJ prison closures not contributing to county jails pops!

Add Walker County to the list of jurisdictions that ended up raising taxes to pay for an expanded jail that was pitched as a moneymaker. Reported the Huntsville Item ("Sheriff speaks about new jail," Aug. 27):

County officials said Tuesday that some of the budget cuts proposed by citizens at the second of two public hearings on a proposed 7 percent tax increase would hurt — not help — residents.

People lined up to speak their minds about the county’s proposed tax increase at two public hearings recently. Virtually all were against the tax increase, some saying higher taxes would mean selling their homes or continuing to put off medical treatment.

County officials are proposing to adopt a tax rate of 67.78 cents per $100 taxable assessed valuation for fiscal year 2013-14. That is 2 cents more than the Walker County Appraisal District’s calculated effective rate of 65.78.

The tax increase would help the county cover operating expenses for the new jail and give non-elected or appointed county employees a 3 percent raise in pay.

Citizens told commissioners they done their own line item review of the 2013-14 fiscal year budget and Monday night suggested trimming the county’s budget by eliminating employee raises and additional jailer positions for the new Walker County Jail facility, which is set to open in 2014.

Predictably, the Sheriff replied, “Our goal is to create a revenue stream with other counties paying us to house their inmates.” Regular readers know how well that's worked out for other Texas counties. Meanwhile, some of the Sheriff's justifications for a full jail were utter rubbish.

A couple of citizens asked the commissioners during the hearing why they approved the construction of the new jail when the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is shutting down prisons around the state.

McRae said that the closing of TDCJ prisons was putting more of a burden on county jail facilities.

“The way the law currently is, if TDCJ continues to close prisons, the county jails are going to see more inmates,” McRae said. “When the inmates are sentenced, they have to stay at the county jails longer while TDCJ searches for a place to house them. The Texas Sheriff’s Association has a big concern about this.

“Our goal is to create a revenue stream with other counties paying us to house their inmates,” - See more at: http://itemonline.com/local/x865763946/Sheriff-speaks-about-new-jail#sthash.llG8Jxdj.dpuf

To be clear: It's just not the case that TDCJ's prison closures created any backlog. Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire said this month there were more than 2,000 empty beds at TDCJ, suggesting inmates from the Connally unit could be moved elsewhere after their water supply was disrupted for the second summer running. They weren't. TDCJ has plenty of beds and the closure of two facilities did nothing to increase the burden on county jail populations. It's simply a false allegation. A reporter for the Huntsville Item, of all papers, should have caught that fib!

County officials said Tuesday that some of the budget cuts proposed by citizens at the second of two public hearings on a proposed 7 percent tax increase would hurt — not help — residents.

People lined up to speak their minds about the county’s proposed tax increase at two public hearings recently. Virtually all were against the tax increase, some saying higher taxes would mean selling their homes or continuing to put off medical treatment.

County officials are proposing to adopt a tax rate of 67.78 cents per $100 taxable assessed valuation for fiscal year 2013-14. That is 2 cents more than the Walker County Appraisal District’s calculated effective rate of 65.78.

The tax increase would help the county cover operating expenses for the new jail and give non-elected or appointed county employees a 3 percent raise in pay.

Citizens told commissioners they done their own line item review of the 2013-14 fiscal year budget and Monday night suggested trimming the county’s budget by eliminating employee raises and additional jailer positions for the new Walker County Jail facility, which is set to open in 2014 - See more at: http://itemonline.com/local/x865763946/Sheriff-speaks-about-new-jail#sthash.llG8Jxdj.dpuf

County officials said Tuesday that some of the budget cuts proposed by citizens at the second of two public hearings on a proposed 7 percent tax increase would hurt — not help — residents.

People lined up to speak their minds about the county’s proposed tax increase at two public hearings recently. Virtually all were against the tax increase, some saying higher taxes would mean selling their homes or continuing to put off medical treatment.

County officials are proposing to adopt a tax rate of 67.78 cents per $100 taxable assessed valuation for fiscal year 2013-14. That is 2 cents more than the Walker County Appraisal District’s calculated effective rate of 65.78.

The tax increase would help the county cover operating expenses for the new jail and give non-elected or appointed county employees a 3 percent raise in pay.

Citizens told commissioners they done their own line item review of the 2013-14 fiscal year budget and Monday night suggested trimming the county’s budget by eliminating employee raises and additional jailer positions for the new Walker County Jail facility, which is set to open in 2014 - See more at: http://itemonline.com/local/x865763946/Sheriff-speaks-about-new-jail#sthash.llG8Jxdj.dpuf