NORWICH – Chenango County officials have been taken back by a $104,500 bill from Valley Ridge CIT for the treatment of one individual who was convicted of several felonies last fall.

The county’s Health and Human Services Committee first heard about the unexpected burden earlier this month. According to Mental Hygiene Services Director Ruth Roberts, the individual – a Chenango County resident – has received care at Valley Ridge Center for Intensive Treatment for the last six months after being deemed by County Judge Frank Revoir to not have the capacity to understand charges against him or participate in his own defense.

That individual was ordered to one year of treatment at Valley Ridge; and now, since his crime occurred in Chenango County, county taxpayers are on the hook for payment and there’s no way around it.

Worse still, another bill is expected in six months to cover the second half of the individual’s one-year restorative treatment order.

“It appears we have to pay it,” said County Attorney Allan Gordon, noting New York State law verified by the Office of Persons with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) that says local taxpayers have to pony up for treatment in such instances.