After triple forces caused financial strain for Taft, reopening prison set to fill city's coffers
Aug. 5—The Taft City Council approved an agreement with a federal agency to reopen a local prison to house inmates, a decision expected to revitalize revenue streams that dried up after two correctional facilities previously shut down.
The private prison Taft Correctional Institute and the state-run Taft Modified Community Correctional Facility closed in 2020 and 2021, respectively. Operations ceased after repairs costing $100 million were needed for the privately run building and Gov. Gavin Newsom declared his intentions to end contracts with for-profit prisons. Each center employed hundreds and raised money for the city's general fund.
An intergovernmental agreement between the city of Taft and the U.S. Marshals Service will allow federal agencies to house inmates at the Taft Modified Community Correctional Facility. City Council members voted last week to approve salary schedules for staff and buy prisoner transportation vehicles. A primary responsibility of city staff will be to take prisoners on frequent trips to Los Angeles and Northern California areas, according to a city of Taft agenda report.
Taft faced significant financial hurdles to run basic services as the COVID-19 pandemic, declining oil revenues and prison closures walloped the city. These struggles led city staff to to place a 1-cent sales tax on the ballot, which ultimately passed in 2021. Estimates showed about $1.6 million could be raised annually but the ballot measure wouldn't completely cover revenue lost by the city, according to The Californian's previous reporting.
"It's a positive step, it is a community benefit," Taft Mayor Dave Noerr told The Californian in a recent phone interview of forging the agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service.
There will always be a need for prisons, he added, and disagreed with the assertion a private company benefited from the facility. Money flowed directly into the city's general budget, he has said.
Noerr noted a maximum of 615 inmates fit into the Taft Modified Community Correctional Facility but the intergovernmental agreement doesn't specify how many inmates federal officials may bring. Each inmate generates $112 a day for the city and other federal agencies may also use the facility to house people, he said.
Initially, 50 people will be hired, Noerr added. When the prison ran at full capacity, it was staffed by at least 90 people, he noted.
The Taft Correctional Institute, the facility that needed $100 million in repairs, will not be used because of subsidence around the area, Noerr said.
Noerr also credited U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, for jump-starting conversations between the city and federal agencies. They worked together for two years to inform others about the empty facility, during which the city implemented improvements to the correction center's electronics and surveillance systems, he added.
McCarthy described the prison's closure as "reckless" and commended Taft for taking the initiative to work with the U.S. Marshals Service to get the facility reopened to house "certain federal inmates."
"Reopening the Taft Community Correctional Facility will improve public safety in our community and state," McCarthy said in an emailed statement.
The money collected from the intergovernmental agreement will go toward road repairs and return services to taxpayers, Noerr said. Key position have been filled, though interested applicants can still apply for jobs.
State Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, also noted in a statement she opposed closing CCF because it impacts public safety and violates promises made to Taft when it was first built.
"This reopening is good news for the city and it will bring good-paying jobs for local residents and a boost to the local economy," Grove said. "I am confident the United States Marshals Service and the federal prison system will recognize the important public safety contributions that CCF can make to the state and nation. Hopefully this will be the start of additional expansions in the future."
Ishani Desai can be reached at 661-395-7417. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @_ishanidesai.
