Bucks County prison guards awarded 4 percent raise

Crime might not pay, but it will certainly cost Bucks County taxpayers more money this year with rising salaries for corrections officers and some “overflow” inmates exported out of county.

The 265 union-represented corrections officers in Bucks will get raises of 4 percent staged over the next two years, following a court-appointed arbitration award, officials said.

Those officers have been without a contract since 2012 and are to receive no retroactive pay increases for last year under the deal, human resources director Meredith Dolan said.

Under the agreement, the officers also agreed to changes in health coverage, which could save taxpayers about $174,000 per year, county officials estimated.

The average corrections officer costs Bucks about $79,600 per year, according to the finance department projections. That amount includes $51,400 for salary and $28,200 in benefit costs.

The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching union representatives for comment Friday after calls to the International Union for Operating Engineers headquarters in Philadelphia.

A number of other prison contracts were recently approved during the Sept. 4 meeting of the county commissioners. Bucks spends about $36.6 million annually on housing inmates.

Bucks has extended its contract with Community Education Centers of New Jersey to house some ‘overflow’ prisoners at rate of $64 per day. (Housing in county facilities is estimated to cost $84 per inmate per day.) Community Education Centers received $139,712 to house prisoners last year, records show.

Altogether, Bucks spent $838,380 to hold prisoners out of county in 2011 and the government has budgeted $910,000 to house prisoners elsewhere in 2013.

Psychological counseling for inmates could cost taxpayers $674,694 over the next 12 months. The commissioners approved a contract with CFG Health Services of Burlington County, N.J. The agreement includes five percent increase over last year.

A third, $95,216 contract was signed with the Bob Barker Company, Inc. to supply footwear and underwear to inmates, county officials said. The funding for that contract is to be paid by the prisoners, according to the county.

On its website, the Bob Barker Company advertises a variety of items for prisoners including a $90 “Isolation/Suicide Cell Blanket.” According to the website, the blanket comes in a “calming Sherwood Green.”

Source: Phillyburbs.com