Up North Progressive

Last month, GEO Group contested a property tax assessment with the Michigan Tax Tribunal, demanding that the value of their sole Michigan prison be significantly reduced. The assessed property is the shuttered North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan.

The facility was built 26 years ago with the approval of the Lake County Board of County Commissioners. GEO Group, then called Wackenhut, promised to be good neighbors to the community, providing jobs and additional revenue to local community institutions. The 571-bed facility opened to receive juvenile offenders, but without support from the state, it eventually closed.

The prison attempted to re-open three more times, accepting contracts with prisoners shipped in from California and Vermont and with generous donations to Donald Trump in 2017, federal detainees who were arrested for criminal activity. Every activation was temporary, and the prison closed again and again. Fortunately, this had little impact on unemployment, as GEO Group, after expanding the prison to 1800 beds in 2011, transferred GEO Group employees from other facilities for jobs that paid living wages.

Is the private for-profit prison suffering a financial hardship requiring a significant tax break? Let’s take a look:

GEO Group’s 2023 annual revenue was $2.42 billion, with a net value of $1.68 billion, a net increase of 81.29 percent as of September 20, 2024. The company pays no dividends to stockholders and no longer holds REIT status as of 2021. Despite this, GEO Group’s 100 private facilities with 81,000 beds employ 18,000 people and still make a profit.

In February, GEO Group maxed out political campaign contributions totaling $1.8 million for 2024. The billion-dollar corporation nearly exclusively donated money to Republicans, and most of its contributions went to Donald Trump’s political PACs.

In 2023, GEO Group spent $1.25 million in lobbying funds to support congressional bills for the Department of Homeland Security and securing the border. As of June 2024, GEO Group lobbyists contributed $690,000 for similar legislation.

Compare this to demanding a massive tax break from one of the poorest counties in Michigan, where a shuttered 1800-bed facility stands empty after four failed activations. GEO Group promised North Lake Correctional Facility would employ hundreds of local job seekers. The prison promised to be a good neighbor. How can this multi-billion dollar private corrections corporation be a good neighbor while eliminating the funds that keep the county financially afloat? It’s not the county’s fault that GEO Group’s business plan for a giant maximum security prison in Northern Michigan failed to make a profit. GEO Group must remember their good neighbor promise and pay their fair share. They can afford it.