Proposed Essex County Budget Would Make Big Profits From Prisons

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A proposed $725.9 million Essex County budget for 2018 would avoid staff layoffs but continue to rake in millions from contracts to house federal inmates, immigration detainees and juvenile prisoners, officials say.

On Wednesday, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. presented his administration’s proposed budget before the state’s statutory deadline of Jan. 15. The 2018 budget proposal will now be forwarded to the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders for review.

"County taxes are going up only 0.75 percent this year," officials stated. "This contributes to the 1.65 percent increase over the last 16 years."

According to a statement from DiVincenzo’s office, other budget highlights include:

• “The Essex County Correctional Facility is anticipated to generate $35.7 million in revenue by housing federal inmates, immigration detainees and inmates from Gloucester County.”
• “The Essex County Hospital Center is anticipated to generate $17.3 million in revenue through reimbursements from [New Jersey] for admitting patients from the state, Passaic County and Middlesex County.”
• “The Juvenile Detention Facility is anticipated to generate $2.5 million by accepting juvenile detainees from Passaic County.”
• “The Essex County Parks Department is anticipated to generate about $15.4 million in revenue from admissions and user fees.”
• “$25 million in fund balance is being used as revenue in the 2018 budget. In addition, because of savings in the previous budget, the total fund balance will increase to about $78.7 million. This reserve helps the county respond to emergencies, displays fiscal stability to bond rating agencies and has helped improve the county’s cash flow and avoid taking out Tax Anticipation Notes for the last four years.”
• “Over the last seven years, Essex County has held the increase in property taxes to about 1.65 percent, which is under the state cap of 2 percent.”

In addition, open positions with the county have been unfilled, unless they are “essential to public safety and public health operations,” DiVincenzo said. This includes positions such as nurses at the Hospital Center or corrections officers at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark.

Over the last 16 years, Essex County’s workforce has been reduced from a high of almost 4,000 employees in 2003 to 3,550 in the 2018 budget proposal, officials stated.

• See related article: Essex County Group Says End 'Deportation Machine,' No ICE Contract

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