Next week, Hamilton County commissioners likely will approve two contract increases, one with a contractor for work at Enterprise South industrial park and one with the company that runs Silverdale Detention Center.
On Thursday, commissioners reviewed a proposed contract extension and increase for Corrections Corporation of America, which operates Silverdale.
Under the proposed agreement, the daily rate that the county pays per prisoner to CCA would increase from $38.81 to $39.20 in 2011 and $39.59 in 2012.
The county must pay for a minimum population of 915 prisoners at the workhouse – about $35,000 per day – but Director of Corrections Barbara Payne said the county receives a roughly $5 reduction per prisoner in the daily rate when Silverdale has 700 or more prisoners.
During the review, members of the commission’s Finance Committee vented their frustration about what they see as unfair compensation from the state for housing state prisoners.