It could be a hot mid-summer in Sullivan County. The county legislature may make a decision at their July monthly meeting on a general design for a new jail.

Depending on whose estimate prevails, the jail will cost between $45 million and $60 million

Goldberg Associates, a Midwest firm, says a new jail could be built for $45 million.

LaBella Associates, which appears to be the preferred developer with some legislators, and in particular, with the people who run the jail, including Sheriff Michael Schiff, has put a bottom line price tag of $60 million on the project.

In February, County Manager Josh Potosek prepared a comparison of four options – building a facility at $50 million, $60 million, $70 million and $80 million. In all cases, he said property taxes will increase.

“At the $50 million mark, there would be a total over the course of a couple of years of a 2.25 percent tax levy increase and it goes up to the $80 million about a 5.76 percent tax increase,” Potosek said then.

County Legislator Cindy Gieger, speaking out during Thursday’s monthly legislature session, said there clearly is not enough information to make an intelligent decision.

“If we move ahead with the decision, from what I understand in my preliminary review of the contract with LaBella, we need to show whether it’s possible to afford this or not,” Gieger said. “I haven’t had conversations or discussions with bond counsel, county treasurer. There’s been very little discussion on the financial end of this jail project.”

Gieger said what they are talking about now would push the current county debt service from $80 million to perhaps up to $216 million.

Legislator Chairman Scott Samuelson, a fellow Democrat, said Gieger is jumping the gun.

“She absolutely knows that there are going to be meetings going forward so that the legislators can all be brought up to speed, and then we will have a public discussion on it, including financing,” Samuelson said. “All of the details that we’ve been looking at over the past year, we’re going to put them all at one time at one table.”

Look for that to happen at the July 17th meeting.

(Source: MidHudsonNews)