It is likely that many counties across the state, especially those that are financially strapped, will be watching whether Beaver County hires a private management firm for the county's prison. And, if it does, those interested counties will be watching to see if savings projections come to pass and whether any unanticipated problems are encountered.

Even if Beaver reaches a contract settlement with its prison guards — the guards' latest contract expired Saturday — and the county opts not to bring in an outside prison-management company, it isn't outlandish to think that contracting management of prisons might become more common in Pennsylvania in the not-too-distant future.

Prison management represents a significant drain of funds for counties, and it will be interesting to see how much Butler County's prison-management budget increases once the new prison, currently in the first stages of construction, is completed.

In the case of Beaver County, the prison management firm CiviGenics of Massachusetts has said it could save the county about $1.6 million a year over what it currently pays its facility's guards. That would total $4.8 million over three years — $3.6 million more than a contract proposal by the guards that would save Beaver $400,000 a year.

Tom Trkulja, union steward for the prison's 70 full-time and part-time guards, said accepting the county's offer to try to save as much money as CiviGenics says it can would cost a typical guard about $18,000 a year in salary and benefits.

For Beaver officials, the challenge, if the county is leaning seriously toward hiring CiviGenics, would be to ascertain that significant savings would remain possible beyond the initial management contract. That is one of the things other counties will be interested in as they follow how Beaver ultimately decides to proceed.

CiviGenics would have the option of keeping the existing prison staff, but Trkulja has predicted about 80 percent of the current guards probably would not take the jobs because of the lower rate of pay.

A better picture of the prison-management situation is likely to come next week. Negotiators for the two sides are scheduled to meet Monday.

However, from the perspective of the guards' union, the county commissioners delivered a troubling message last week when they adopted a 2006 budget that includes the $1.6 million in savings that would be expected if CiviGenics is hired.

The prison-management issue is no doubt troubling to the Beaver County commissioners, who recognize that it mostly would be county residents who would be hurt by a decision to hire CiviGenics. Such a consideration no doubt would weigh heavily on the Butler County commissioners too, if they were facing a similar decision of paying much less in prison costs by hiring an "outsider."

After all, the guards are county taxpayers.

For Butler County residents, how the situation plays out in Beaver County can be watched without any mandatory local ramifications. The challenges emanating from the new prison's eventual operating costs are something much different, however.

If the new Butler County Prison's construction cost does in fact greatly exceed initial estimates — as is currently being anticipated — it's anyone's guess what drastic steps might be necesssary to protect county property owners from the big tax increase that otherwise would have to be imposed.