The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

Township supervisors are pushing for construction in their municipality, which will be the site of a $25 million public sewage project and is near a $60 million Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission project replacing a bridge carrying Route 21 over the Monongahela River into Greene County.

The state's prison population - at almost 47,000 inmates - is 21 percent higher since 2001 and has grown by almost 40,000 inmates since 1980, according to Beard.

"The fact is, we've been growing now for almost 29 years and we see no reason for that growth to totally stop," Beard said at a news conference yesterday outside the State Correctional Institution at Fayette in Luzerne Township.

"There's some legislative initiatives that will help, we hope, slow the growth a little bit. But even with all of those initiatives, we're not going to totally be able to stop the growth," he added.

The prison will be the 24th state lockup for adult men and the county's second, after the 2003 opening of SCI-Fayette.

"It's a Fayette County facility for certain, and we hope it'll be in German Township and believe it will be in German Township," said Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County. "But, regardless, if there would be some overwhelming obstacle, it would still be in Fayette County by virtue of the law that was passed this summer."

Two of the properties previously publicized as being under consideration are near routes 21 and 166. One is owned by the Mario Tiberi family, while the other is owned by Manfried Wolf of New Jersey.

The third site is in the Palmer area, township supervisors said.

Local officials said they are excited by the prospect of 600 prison jobs and the union jobs associated with construction.

German supervisors said they are hopeful a prison project -- and its related infrastructure -- could lessen the tax burden and other expenses for their residents. Only half of the required funding for the sewage project has been secured.

"It's a critical project to come to the area and it would help our township flourish," Supervisor Dan Shimshock said.

Despite early opposition by many Luzerne residents, the township has reaped substantial financial benefits from SCI-Fayette, according Ron DeSalvo, who retired this year after 18 years as a supervisor.

Taxes on employees at the prison helped the township to collect at least $65,000 in revenue for the general fund budget, which is about $700,000, he said.

Still, John Rush, the executive director of the faith-based Justice & Mercy nonprofit group, said Pennsylvania has a different corrections philosophy than does New York, which announced the closing of four facilities this year.

He said the state abides by "draconian" sentencing guidelines that keep inmates incarcerated here longer than in other states, imposes more life sentences and restricts parole opportunities.

The long prison terms turn many lockups into "geriatric units" because of the exorbitant cost -- estimated at $70,000 per year -- to care for an elderly inmate, Rush said.

His Eastern Pennsylvania organization advocates cost-effective and practical reforms within the justice system.

"When we lack creativity, we pay through our teeth," Rush said.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/s_589104.html