Board Approves Cost Increase For Jail Food Contract

Milwaukee County Jail and Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

The company that provides food in Milwaukee County correctional facilities secured an 8% price hike from the Milwaukee County Board Thursday.

Aramark Correctional Services, a subsidiary of Aramark Corporation, sought to increase the pricing in their contract with Milwaukee County for 2023 citing inflationary increases in the cost of food. Originally the company sought an 11% increase, but officials from the Community Reintegration Center (CRC) negotiated down to 8.3%, CRC Superintendent Chantell Jewel told supervisors.

Supervisor Ryan Clancy tried to persuade his colleagues not to approve the contract and to send it back to the board’s Finance Committee for another hearing, adding, “I need an assurance that all of this money is going into food, and not just into a private company’s earnings report.”

Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun told supervisors they were faced with a “black swan risk” in that it is unlikely, though not impossible, that Aramark would simply walk away from the contract. But if it did, the results would be dire for the county as it was left with no food services in place for the hundreds of people in its jail, juvenile justice center and CRC.

“You can assess that risk,” Daun said. “I would be remiss to say that that’s not a risk, especially given the persistent inflationary environment, which especially hit hard foodstuffs, and the supply chain for foodstuffs.” Daun also told the board that if they needed to find a substitute food service vendor, in the event that Aramark leaves, “We would find ourselves with quite a bargaining power disparity.”

Research Director Steve Cady told supervisors that Aramark has billed the county for approximately $588,000 in services thus far this year and the county has not yet paid the bill. Responding to this, Sup. Willie Johnson Jr. said he thought the contract should be approved, citing concern about the county not paying its bills.

Sup. Shawn Rolland said the contract increase was being driven by data, adding, “This is based on the inflation that’s happened in the country.” He pointed to estimates in the consumer price index and said, “We have data that says this is the number that it should grow by because that’s how much food costs in 2023.”

Food costs, in general, increased by approximately 9.9% in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and are expected to increase by another 7.9% in 2023. The 8.3% figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index. It represents the average inflation estimated for “Food Away From Home” in 2023.

During debate, Clancy tried to persuade his colleagues to take a chance and send the contract back to committee.

“Clearly, it would be inconceivable for even the evilest private corporation to suddenly, you know, Tuesday, say, ‘We’re just not going to feed the people in your care and custody anymore’,” Clancy said. “I don’t think that’s a reasonable assumption.”

Ultimately, the board voted to approve the contract on a 15-2 vote, with supervisors Clancy and Juan Miguel Martinez voting against it.