TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2009

COUNTY LEGISLATOR WROBLEWSKI ASKS COUNTY EXECUTIVE TO END CELLBLOCK AGREEMENT WITH CITY OF BUFFALO

Erie County Legislature Legislator Timothy M. Wroblewski (D-West Seneca, South Cheektowaga) is leading the effort to have Erie County end the current City of Buffalo Cellblock Agreement with the County, or modify the agreement to insure that the County is fully compensated for the services it provides to the City under the agreement.

Legislator Wroblewski, chair of the Public Safety Committee, requested this action in an August 24 letter he sent to the County Executive. He noted in his letter that, after Erie County and Buffalo entered the cellblock agreement in 2003, the city closed its cellblock facilities and transferred all detention and booking facilities to the Erie County Sheriff's Office and the Erie County Holding Center.

"The underlying premise for this agreement was that the city's cellblock was duplicative of the County's holding Center, that the cellblock was aging and in need of significant infrastructure improvements, that the County's cost per prisoner was significantly lower than the City's and that the County's assumption of detention and booking responsibilities could save the City hundreds of thousands of dollars annually while the County's costs would be covered by the City's annual payment," Legislator Wroblewski's letter states.

In January 2007, County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz opined that a reasonable projection of the county's costs associated with the agreement led to the conclusion that the County's losses under the current agreement could amount to between $5,591,783 and $10,395,246 by June 30, 2013. Poloncarz also determined that the County's costs under the agreement exceeded the city's payments by $1,662,266 from September 1, 2003, to December 1, 2006.

"This agreement has not been revenue neutral for the county; the county was not supposed to spend more money, but its costs have substantially increased," Legislator Wroblewski said. "While elected officials and law makers need to continue to think outside the box, we also need to correct things inside the box, starting with ending the agreement."

Legislator Wroblewski noted that the agreement includes a provision which authorizes the County, in its sole discretion, to terminate the agreement pursuant to the terms therein, should the city fail to make one or more of its quarterly payments to the County. While the city has not failed to make any payments under this agreement, many of the payments have not been received on the date provided for in the agreement. This failure to make timely installment payments is unacceptable and the County should immediately take steps to insure that this practice does not continue.

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