Essex Countys Prison Profits Will Continue Under Proposed Budget – Montclair, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County officials have presented a proposed, $761.6 million budget for 2019. The spending plan would avoid layoffs to county workers, but as in years past, would take in millions of dollars from housing federal inmates and immigration detainees.

On Jan. 11, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. introduced the proposed budget, which now goes to the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders for review.

“Every year we are faced with a variety of challenges that affect our county,” DiVincenzo said. “By starting our planning process early and presenting our budget by the January 15 statutory deadline, we are able to create a strong groundwork and sound financial plan.”

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

Over the last 17 years, Essex County’s workforce has been reduced from a high of almost 4,000 employees in 2003 to 3,544 in the 2019 budget proposal, officials said.

According to a county news release, some of the highlights of the proposed 2019 budget include:

• “Several Essex County facilities continue to generate recurring revenue through shared service agreements with other government agencies. The Essex County Correctional Facility is anticipated to generate $42.7 million in revenue by housing federal inmates, immigration detainees and inmates from Gloucester County; the Essex County Hospital Center is anticipated to generate $18.2 million in revenue through reimbursements from the State for admitting patients from the State, Passaic County and Middlesex County; and the Juvenile Detention Facility is anticipated to generate $3 million by accepting juvenile detainees from Passaic County.”
• “The Essex County Parks Department is anticipated to generate about $14.2 million in revenue from admissions and user fees.”
• “$44.5 million in fund balance is being used as revenue in the 2019 budget. In addition, because of savings in the previous budget, the total fund balance is projected to be about $74.6 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 five years. (When DiVincenzo took office in 2003, the previous administration left a budget deficit of $64 million.)”
• “Over the last seven years, Essex County has held the increase in property taxes to about 1.5 percent, which is under the state cap of 2 percent.”
• “Over the last 17 years, Essex County has held the increase in property taxes to about 2.38 percent, which is the fifth lowest percentage rate of increase of all New Jersey counties behind Hunterdon, Monmouth, Burlington and Somerset counties.”
• “In 2007, DiVincenzo implemented an initiative to stabilize the county’s debt service by refinancing existing debt without extending its maturity date and limiting the amount of new debt to a maximum of $20 million annually. In 2019, the debt service payment is $111.6 million, which will be reduced to just $37.3 million in 2026.”

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