“I’m not laughing anymore because I think we have a very serious crime problem and this will only exacerbate this crime problem,” he said.

Although Cropsey has questioned MDOC’s budget, closing prisons does not necessarily result in lower costs, State Rep. Mark Meadows, D-East Lansing, said.

Maintenance on the building sites continues to carry a cost for the state, Meadows said. In spite of recurring costs, Gov. Jennifer Granholm is still trying to reduce the budget, he said.

“I don’t think the governor’s plan requires more money be spent by corrections,” he said. “It is designed to reduce the overall cost.”

Cropsey said the risk to public safety is his main concern and alternatives to high prisoner costs should be explored.

“We know that our cost per prisoner is too high,” he said. “(Granholm) has chosen to try and reduce the budget by putting people out and thereby closing prisons.”

Cropsey said the cost to house a prisoner is about $32,500 per year, and to place a prisoner on parole costs about $7,800 per parolee. Based on the prison closures and an increase in parolees, Cropsey expected the budget to decrease.

Although Crospey is concerned with the MDOC’s overspending, budget increases are somewhat expected, MDOC spokesperson John Cordell said.

“(Factored into out operational costs are) things that the department can’t budget for and does not control,” Cordell said.

These unforeseen costs have increased in recent years and include higher retiree pension and electric costs, for example, Cordell said. This factor caused net savings for the budget in 2010 to decrease from $120 million to $55 million, he said. He said an increased budget this year would create greater savings in the 2009-10 budget, which must be approved by state legislators Oct. 1.

Cropsey said savings in the MDOC budget should be more apparent.

“You would think we would save a significant amount of money-which we don’t see in her budget,” he said.