HERE'S A NEW idea to help the city through its budget crisis: Charge $35 for admission to the county jail.
The Philadelphia Prison System is considering a processing fee for new inmates at the Northeast Philadelphia prison complex on State Road.
"We eat up a lot of tax dollars," said prison spokesman Robert Eskind. "This is an approach that might help reduce some of the costs of this operation."
The idea came up during recent discussions between city budget and prison officials. With 38,000 people a year admitted to the prison system, a $35 charge could raise as much as $1.3 million. The city has discounted the potential revenue to $400,000, recognizing that many of those arrested are indigent and that the $35 figure could be reduced.
"We're living in a world where there are fees for all sorts of things," Eskind said. "The courts charge a fee. . . . We're more expensive than any of those operations."
The intake charge would help cover the salaries of social workers who interview each new inmate, of correctional officers who determine an appropriate level of custody and of others who store inmates' property during their jail time.
And - at no additional charge - "everyone gets a complete physical when they come in," Eskind said. Some of them, he added, are "very sick, very depressed."
The potential fees would also offset the costs of educational and vocational programs.
Eskind said that prison officials are still mulling the idea, expecting to make a decision within a couple of months and still flexible on how much to charge.
"It's not set in stone," he said.
Room at the top
Since last spring, Mayor Nutter has issued quarterly reports on who gets free tickets to the mayor's box to see the Phillies, the Eagles, the 76ers and the Flyers, among other events at the city stadiums, arenas, the Mann Music Center and Robin Hood Dell East.
Compared with the days when then-Mayor John Street turned over tickets to Ron White and other political fundraisers, Nutter's guest lists are tame reading. He regularly shares the royal box with City Council members, other elected officials and dozens of guests from rec centers, youth athletic groups and other nonprofits.
The most surprising aspect is how many of the seats go empty. While there was no room at post-season Phillies games, or the Eagles' bashes, the box has been empty, or nearly so, for most of the Flyers and 76ers contests. No one visited the mayor's box for any games played by the Phantoms or Temple's football team.
