HAGERSTOWN, Md. – More than 4,000 homes near the proposed ICE detention facility in Williamsport could collectively lose as much as $22.3 million in value if declines documented around prisons elsewhere in the country were repeated in Washington County, according to a new analysis by a local opposition group.
Hagerstown Rapid Response released the report Monday along with an online tool that allows homeowners to estimate the potential effect on their own property based on its assessed value and distance from the proposed facility.
The group’s calculation is not a site-specific appraisal. It applies findings from a national academic study to properties surrounding the Williamsport site.
The analysis relies on a peer-reviewed study by economist Janjala Chirakijja examining 305 prison openings across the country. The study found median housing values declined 3.4 percent within 1.24 miles of a newly opened prison and 1.8 percent within 2.49 miles.
Hagerstown Rapid Response applied those percentages to Maryland property records for 4,000 residential properties within 2.49 miles of the proposed detention facility. The calculation produced a potential combined decline of as much as $22.3 million if local property values responded similarly.
Every residence in Williamsport falls within the 2.49-mile radius used in the analysis, according to the protest group. The area also reaches into Hagerstown, Halfway, Kemps Mill, Pinesburg and Wilson-Conococheague.
Rapid Response and Washington County Indivisible are calling on the Department of Homeland Security to conduct its own site-specific analysis of potential effects on residential property values and release the results publicly.
“Officials may highlight the jobs they might create, but they rarely talk about the wealth they could extract from the communities they claim to serve,” said Jason McGill, a Rapid Response leader and president of the Washington County chapter of the NAACP.
Online tool estimates potential loss by address
Hagerstown Rapid Response also launched ICEJailTax.com, an address-based calculator that retrieves a property’s Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation value and applies the percentage from the national study based on its distance from the proposed facility.
The calculator shows the property’s state-assessed value, its distance from the site and the estimated decline if the results of the prison study were repeated in Washington County.
The protest group calls the potential decline an “ICE jail tax,” although it is not an actual tax or government assessment. The figures produced by the calculator are estimates, not predictions of what individual homes would sell for if the detention facility opens.
“Officials love talking about the jobs these facilities supposedly bring,” HRR founder Patrick Dattilio said. “They’re much quieter about what they could cost the community.”
Project remains under federal court injunction
The conversion of the Williamsport warehouse remains on hold under a preliminary injunction issued in April by U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson. The order prohibits DHS and ICE from converting or operating the property as an immigration detention facility while the litigation continues, although limited work to secure and maintain the building is permitted.
Washington County Administrator Michelle Gordon told commissioners last week that contractor KVG and its subcontractors were complying with the injunction and installing security systems and temporary fencing. She said the county had no information that other construction was underway.
DHS is conducting an environmental review of plans that could accommodate as many as 1,500 detainees. There is no announced date for the full conversion to begin, and whether it proceeds remains tied to the environmental review and the continuing court case.
Federal investment could reach $744 million
DHS purchased the approximately 825,000-square-foot warehouse on Wright Road for $102.4 million in January and later awarded KVG LLC a task order worth up to $641.8 million to renovate and operate the proposed facility and provide related services.
Together, the purchase and contract could represent as much as $744.2 million in federal spending.
Residents have mostly worried about what the detention center could mean for the county’s water and sewer infrastructure, traffic, emergency services and environment. Hagerstown Rapid Response’s analysis shows that the effect on the value of their houses is another major issue of concern for nearby residents.
Washington County commissioners declared their support for the federal project in February and pledged not to use their positions to oppose or hinder it. County officials have since stressed that the county did not select the site and has no jurisdiction over the federal project.
Hurson’s injunction followed a challenge over DHS’ compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act before purchasing the property. DHS has since begun an environmental review of the project.
Rapid Response said nearly 5,000 public comments have been delivered to DHS through its campaign opposing the facility.
“Our commissioners counted the promised jobs before they bothered counting the cost to their own constituents,” said Laura Spivak, a leader with Washington County Indivisible. “ICEJailTax.com is doing the homework they should have done and giving residents answers they can’t get from the commissioners even when they ask.”
Hagerstown Rapid Response wants DHS to include residential property values in its continuing review and address what mitigation or compensation could be available if homeowners eventually suffer losses.
