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Erie County officials warn jail overtime and staff shortages could force supplemental budget request
Summary
County finance committee members were told the county jail ran roughly $2 million over budget last year, overtime spending is high (about 76% of the line exhausted), and the facility faces recruiting and retention problems that could require a supplemental appropriation or internal transfers.
Erie County Finance Committee members heard Thursday that the county jail exceeded its budget last year by about $2,000,000 and that overtime spending is close to exhaustion, raising the likelihood the administration will seek a supplemental appropriation or transfer to cover payroll costs.
Committee members pressed jail staff and county finance officials on the shortfall and on how staffing gaps have driven overtime higher. A jail official told the committee, “We were down 19 officers in January… now we’re back to, like, 36 down,” and described rapid attrition, no‑shows for shifts and applicants taking higher‑paying private jobs.
The committee’s finance chair emphasized the legal and fiscal options available: “If you have a line item that is over budget, you need to either make a transfer into that line item to fund it or request a supplemental appropriation,” the committee member said. Members asked the administration to exhaust internal transfers before seeking new county appropriations.
Committee discussion cited several drivers for the shortfall. Committee members and jail staff said recently negotiated contracts raised wages for corrections staff and for other bargaining groups that had not previously been fully reflected in the published budget. A jail official also said the county switched medical providers last year and that the new contract carried a higher cost that may not have been adjusted for in the budget. The official said hiring has become slower and less productive: “This week it took 3 weeks to get 10 applications,” he said, and then only a handful met hiring qualifications.
Officials gave a point of relief: the jail’s federal contract revenue increased after the county negotiated a higher per‑diem rate; the jail official said the county’s per‑diem rose from about $75 to $99, and that revenue line is tracking well this year. Committee members asked for regular updates on when overtime would be fully exhausted and for analysis of whether transfers within departments could cover shortfalls.
No formal vote or ordinance on a supplemental appropriation was taken at the meeting. Committee members said they expect the administration to return with specific transfer proposals or a supplemental appropriation request if internal adjustments prove insufficient.
The committee recorded several related items on the agenda, including a first reading of a planning and housing supplemental appropriation and a library supplemental appropriation, but those were discussed separately from the jail’s staffing and overtime problem. The finance committee requested additional detail from the administration and county accounting staff on the jail’s returned or unspent funds and on the timing for any potential supplemental appropriation.
Looking ahead, committee members urged the administration to include more realistic staffing and overtime assumptions in next year’s budget and to provide timely notice if a supplemental appropriation will be needed so the committee can review sources for funding without disrupting the public record.
