With 11 executions spread over 27 years, on a per execution basis, California and federal taxpayers have paid more than $250 million for each execution. It costs approximately $90,000 more a year to house an inmate on death row, than in the general prison population or $57.5 million annually.The Attorney General devotes about 15% of his budget, or $11 million annually to death penalty cases.he cost of a system in which the number of death-eligible crimes was significantly narrowed would be $130 million per year. The cost of a system which imposes a maximum penalty of lifetime incarceration instead of the death penalty would be $11.5 million per year. Read the report.