The agreement with Hudson County calls for housing Mercer County inmates at a cost of $97 per inmate per day for the first year.
TRENTON -- Mercer County could save $18 million to $20 million in the second year of the proposed plan to have Hudson County house county jail inmates, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said Wednesday.
The unions representing Mercer County corrections officers say it's a lie.
Hughes revealed a plan last week to have Hudson incarcerate Mercer inmates for a minimum of $21 million a year for two years, reduce the operations of the Mercer County Correction Center and layoff correction officers and employees.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes in a file photo.The Mercer County budget in 2015 allotted $45 million for jail operations, comprising $36 million in wages, $5 million for medical services and $4 million categorized as other.
Hughes said if the plan is approved, the county savings would not be immediate, as the mechanics of moving the inmates and working with officers and employees on re-employment, and other issues, would take some time.
"On the second year, (the savings) would be about $20 million, maybe $18 million," Hughes said.
Hughes said he only proposed a two-year contract so the county could see how the plan works and how the bail reform changes that being Jan. 1, 2017 in New Jersey affect the plan.
"County Executive Hughes is peddling a lie when he claims that his plan to ship Mercer County inmates to the Hudson County jail will save $18 million in 2017," the unions, locals of the Policemen's Benevolent Association (PBA), said in a statement response.
"The County Executive is picking numbers out of the air that have no reality. His math does not add up and the truth is that this is a terrible deal for Mercer County and it will get worse each year," the statement said.
The plan is scheduled to go before the Mercer County freeholder board this coming Tuesday, Feb. 23. He said a number of his staff will be at the meeting to answer any questions the board and attendees have.
Hughes said his staff he's been meeting with union representatives of correction center employees, and is scheduled to meet with the PBA on Monday. His administration is working on aiding employees on re-employment efforts.
The county executive said he takes no joy in the layoff side of the plan. "I didn't run for county executive to fire people. I want to hire people. I am a member of the democratic party and I want to have more people climb the economic ladder."
The reality, Hughes said, is that after the recession of the late 2000s and without rateables flourishing in Mercer County, "the financial stability of Mercer County is why I am making this move."
Hughes said the county made a similar plan with the youth detention center (in 2011) and counties sending inmates to other counties is happening around New Jersey.
Hughes' plan calls for the correction center in Hopewell Township to remain open as an intake and processing center for inmates going to or coming from Hudson County.
The unions believe Mercer County will still spend millions in extra transportation costs driving to Hudson County, and in operating the jail building around the clock.
"Added together, the county will pay much more for corrections under this deal than it currently does and no amount of wishing by the County Executive can change those facts," the union statement said. "It is very telling that the County Executive has presented no staffing or operation plan and has cited no study that would support his plan"
The agreement with Hudson County - whose freeholder board approved it last week - would see Mercer start sending 150 inmates per week to Hudson starting March 1 and paying $97 per inmate per day.
Sixty days after signing the agreement, Mercer would pay Hudson for a minimum of 600 inmates per day, even if the number of Mercer inmates in Hudson is less than 600, according to the agreement.
For a full year, the 600 inmate minimum would cost $21.2 million. In year two of the agreement, the daily price per inmate increases to $99 per day, or about $21.6 million per year.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.