NORWICH – The county’s lead financial planners this week mulled over the four tentative budgets that comprise the Chenango County Sheriff’s Department for next year, projected to cost local taxpayers $2.9 million.
The combined spending plan for the new facility, safety and emergency services is $6 million.
Despite an increased payroll of about $1 million for corrections officers, plus additional utilities, food and other costs associated with operating the one-year-old Public Safety Facility, officials felt safe estimating only a slight increase over last year’s local share on the levy.
The $26 million complex, completed last November, was afforded by $8 million in eight-year bonds and $6 million in five-year bond anticipation notes. The other $12 million came from surplus and from revenues generated by the 1 percent increase in the county sales tax.
Officials reported a balance of $4 million from sales tax earlier this summer, enough to make loan payments this year and next.
“I’ve been waiting to see and I’m happy to see that line item showing zero for the temporary confinement of prisoners,” Dennis Brown, D-Pharsalia, told his fellow members of the Finance Committee. The new facility is currently farming in 47 inmates and has collected revenues of $350,000 to date.
“Increasing food costs by $100,000 or whatever the number ends up being to do this versus the several hundred thousands of dollars we’ll get from farming in is worth it,” Sheriff Thomas J. Loughren said. “I feel a lot better about things than I did six months ago. We could anticipate $1 million per year.”
The Sheriff appropriated $342,000 to cover food, supplies and utilities this year. The jail can house up to 133 total inmates, though the Sheriff said he would be looking at 110 to 115 with about 60 prisoners being local.
Officials were quick to refrain from depending on farming-in revenues instead of the 1 percent sales tax for operating expenses next year, however. The possibility of a earning a second judgeship in Chenango County could mean more local inmates taking jail beds. In addition, other counties in New York are currently in the process of building new jails.
Committee Chairman Lawrence Wilcox suggested keeping the utilities budget at $250,000. “My concern is that we don’t have any insurance that it (farming in revenues) will continue year after year after year. If they go away, all of a sudden there’s a major shock on the levy.”
Loughren said there is always the possibility that he can’t get inmates in, though he said it hasn’t happened yet.
“If we build the lion’s share of this budget with corrections revenues coming in and it is volatile, the day will come when it could bite us,” Brown said.
The committee elected to put excess farming-in revenues in surplus to adjust for any potential volatility over the next two years. “We need to build a financial package that would cover the Public Safety Facility’s expenses,” Wilcox said.
The budgets passed through the committee’s special budgeting session and are headed to a vote by the full Board of Supervisors in November. Some of the new positions granted, including a maintenance cleaner, a full-time cook a full-time registered nurse and a dispatcher, still require review within Personnel.