Paying for a landmark illegal immigration crackdown is not as simple as its $14.2 million budget over the next five years would suggest, Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors learned this week.

A number of projects critical to the immigration plan — expanding the police ranks, expanding the overcrowded jail and building a 125,000-square-foot training facility for police and firefighters — will cost many millions of dollars and will require a higher property-tax rate to fund them, administrators told the board.

When Supervisor Wally Covington tried to add the illegal immigration plan to the preliminary budget this week, staff members were unable to estimate the total cost. The new budget guidance will allow them to develop a much larger price.

“That's a big-ticket item,” Board Vice Chairman Martin Nohe said. “We can't just fund the … program. That only works if you also fund the staffing plan and requires that you fund the training facility.”

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The original proposal featured $5 million for extra jail space and divvied up the rest on extra officers, a new training system and a comprehensive study to evaluate its enforcement.

County Chairman Corey Stewart said he is concerned county officials could increase the cost of the illegal immigration plan to get money for other projects.

Like other local governments, Prince William County has not been able to determine how much it spends serving illegal immigrants because it does not ask for U.S. residency status for some services, including schools and health care, County Executive Craig Gerhart said.

The county spends more than $3 million annually for the illegal immigrants detained at the jail and sent a bill to Congress earlier this year that has not been paid.

Stewart said falling property values, which are hurting property-tax revenues, and high costs for other programs could make funding the illegal immigration plan complicated.

dgenz@dcexaminer.com