Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Likely prison closing

Cheshire has several prisons in the overall complex at the corner of Highland and Jarvis. Governor Rell has announced her plan to close one of the prisons. Here's Town Hall's take on it:

We were informed late this afternoon that Governor Rell has recommended closing the Level Two minimum security Webster Correctional Institution in Cheshire. The closure would take eight to 10 weeks to complete. The 220 inmates would be transferred, and the closure could be reversed should the need arise.

Since the PILOT payment is based on the assessed value of the real property, PILOT revenue should not be impacted by this closing. However, it could slightly reduce sewer user fee revenue, but it could also decrease the inflow to the Waste Water Treatment Plant as well, which would free up capacity.


For reference, PILOT stands for Payment In Lieu Of Taxes. The Town gets PILOT money for a variety of reasons, property taxes on the prison complex is one of them. Also, the total prison population has hovered around 2700 for the past few years.

Tim White

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do I get the feeling that the DOC and the parole board are once again being told to empty the jails regardless of safety?

What we saw in Washington State should be proof that there are plenty of folks out there let out of jail early who need to be confined until they are old and feeble.

We need public safety more than more expensive studies on the effect of climate change on left handed LGBT illegal aliens

Anonymous said...

So, Cheshire seems to be losing a second business unit too? First Pratt & Whitney, now a chunk of the prison operation. And of course the town has probably lost the proposed north end mall and all its low paying jobs too.

Clearly it must now be time to put in that artificial turf field at CHS. And clearly all the local football boosters will no doubt be more than willing to throw in even more of their own hard earned money to cover the installation and ongoing costs of the proposed field.

Is it time for another annual property tax increase too?

Bill said...

Even the State of Connecticut has figured out it is too expensive to live in Cheshire.

Anonymous said...

Has the prison advisory committee had any comments on this? I look every week at the upcoming meeting schedule in the MRJ, and they are never listed. Have they been meeting?

Breachway said...

Bill - good one....my first laugh of the day.

Anonymous said...

There is NO REASON to lock up people who have comitted NON-VIOLENT crimes--I am told about 25% of our prison population in the State is in this category--a HUGE waste of money.

Anonymous said...

8:56 - - a crime is a crime. If you do the crime you should do the time. Maybe you'd like to set Bernie Madoff free because he wasn't violent, he was just a massively, evil, crooked felon?

You shouldn't forget that in general it is pretty hard to get the state to actually lock you up. First they have to catch you, then they have to actually get a court to find you guilty and after that they actually have to sentence you to jail time.

Some of us believe that usually those who get locked up are truly bad. The scary part is when they are released back into society but they have no skills to be able to succeed honestly.

Anonymous said...

I agree, the state is very easy going when it comes to locking someone up. Many prosicutors are more than willing to make a deal to avoid jail time. Often, people are avoiding jail by making restitution to the victim and paying a fine to the state. I've seen people on probation appear in court on unrelated charges and be free to go in a matter of hours.

Anonymous said...

Except for the north block, the prisons in Cheshire are newer & in better condition than our schools, not to speak of the 50 or so brand new vehciles they drive. The politicians learned long ago how to milk crime into votes & higher taxes & here we sit. TOO many people are in jail than need to be

Anonymous said...

Did I read that our favorite son, Joshua Komisawhatshisname, and his partner in crime, Steven Hayes cost us $400k per year each to keep alive?

A good solution sounds more like a no-brainer all the time, unless your name is Esty.

Anonymous said...

Buy a bullet and rent a gun

Ironicly, the state is preventing their deaths and suicides so the state can kill them.

Anonymous said...

C'mon, we have to let their politically connected lawyers get rich at state expense on their "defense"

Anonymous said...

3:41 unless your name is huckabee-esty's decisions did not lead to the death of four cops.