The new jail contract between the Federal Bureau of Prisons and Management Training Corp. is a win- win financial deal for Willacy County and for MTC, officials said.

The Local Government Corp. and the Commissioner’s Court approved a resolution on Tuesday to go ahead with the transaction to hand over the 3,000- bed detention center to The Federal Bureau of Prisons from the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

Once the deal is in black-andwhite as County Judge John F. Gonzales Jr. would like to see it before closing the deal, the county will be getting a minimum of $104,900 a month starting in October.

That’s because the FBP is guaranteeing a 70 percent bed occupancy rate, paying $2.50 daily for each of 1,360 beds.

Under the new 10- year contract, the bureau will increase the $ 2.25 per diem ICE was paying by 11 percent, or to $2.50.

If the jail has 50 percent of the 3,000 beds occupied plus an additional one bed, the county is guarantee 90 percent, or 2,484 beds, getting a total of $188,887.

Gonzales said that is a deal the county wasn’t getting under contract with ICE, which called for the $2.25 per diem but only based on the bed occupancy.

In other words, if not a single bed was occupied, the county would get zero money, whereas the FBP guarantees 70 percent of the payment under the same circumstances.

“I’d say this is pretty a done deal,” the county judge said. “But I want to see it in black and white before the paperwork.”

Under the new contract, he said the county can count on an estimated $3 million annually for the next 10 years, which are the terms of the contract.

Michael Murphy, vice president for business development with MTC, said the new contract is a win-win deal for everybody.

“It provides for stability for the county and for MTC,” he said. “The Bureau of Prisons has good contract system; they need beds, we need the stability.”

Murphy said the plan is to take over the detention center on Sept. 1.

“ This new contract will provide a steady stream of revenues for us and for the county,” he added in reference to the $532 million contract. “This is also the result of a long standing partnership with Willacy County.”

However, Murphy said the new contract calls for some changes, one which is reduced staff due to bureau regulations.

Recently, MTC laid off more than 110 workers at the detention center, and Murphy said the plan is to keep the work force at 390, compared to 580 MTC had before the company started sending people home.

Michael Harling, executive vice president with Municipal Capital Market of Dallas, said they are celebrating a year of hard work.

Because of the nature of this transaction, he said the county will be receiving thousands of dollars from the $2.50 per diem.

He also said that as the revenues start coming in, LGC will need to pay off the bond debt service.

Harling said the outstanding balance for the bond is $ 52 million, but once the bond is refinanced the new debt obligation will be $75 million.

Gonzales said the money the county will be getting will go to economic development, for infrastructure and to improve the county’s law enforcement system.

In a related action, the commissioners court approved changing the jail name from the Willacy County Processing Center to the Willacy County Correctional Center.

The commissioners also approved paying $2,000 to Inmate Services Corp., of Little Rock, Ark., to pick up Jose Angel Gonzalez who allegedly assaulted a 12-year-old girl from Larasa. He is in North Dakota and will be brought to Raymonville on Sunday.