MADISON, Wis. -- Dane County’s poorest families are bearing the brunt of the county budget crisis through collect calls. That’s according to Madison’s Urban Ministry.

The collect calls are to the families from their loved ones in the Dane County Jail. Under the current and proposed contract, inmates pay a $4.25 connection fee and 10 cents a minute for service.

"The new contract would not raise the phone charges," said Supervisor Andy Olsen. "But it would boost the commission paid back to the county three times over."

The contract with ICSolutions for the next three years would generate nearly $1 million for Dane County.

"The sheriff wants to raise property taxes by $7 million," said Supervisor Brett Hulsey. "We’ve got to find that money somewhere."

But community activists argue those commissions are coming from some of the poorest families in Madison.

"Families are losing their phones," said Madison's Urban Ministry director, Mary Kay Baum. "We hear about it all the time. "It's like taxing the population that is least likely to afford it."

Overcharging jail and prison phones is a common practice all over the country.

In California, the average county jail inmate's local call home costs more than seven times as much as a 50-cent pay phone call does. That adds up to more than $120 million a year in phone bills for families and friends of county inmates statewide.

Now some Madison families, along with Urban Ministry, are speaking out about what they call the unfair process.

"It's generally been shown that communication with families is a helpful thing for rehabilitation or reconnection or for success back into the community," said Baum.

Baum worries that with such high rates fewer inmates will stay connected to their families, especially their children.

The County Board does have an option to lower the connection fee from $4.25 to $3.25, but doing so would mean an overall loss of $240,000 to the county.

"Many supervisors I’ve talked to feel that the impact on inmates would only be $1, but the impact and loss to the county would be substantial," said Olsen.

Olsen noted, "We’ve increased spending on jail medical services by 100 percent over the past year. We have better mental health care, prescriptions now available to inmates. We’ve got to find a way to pay for that amidst this budget crisis."

Hulsey says he is looking into an option of setting aside $20,000 in a ‘hardship fund’ to help families who are in danger of losing their phone service because of the exorbitant fees.

Olsen pointed out that under the new contract inmates can talk for up to 30 minutes. Most other phone companies only allow 20-minute inmate calls. Inmates will also be offered calling cards.

The ICSsolutions contract comes before the county board this Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Many affected family members say they will appear to speak to the board.

A news conference is scheduled for tomorrow morning for families to tell their stories. It will be held on the steps of the City County Building, 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. At 10:30 a.m.

For more information on jail phone rates check out these Web sites.

Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants

The Campaign to Promote Equitable Telephone Charges

Story from Nevada Prisons