MONTICELLO – Sullivan County expects to bond around $95 million to build the long overdue new county jail. That may sound ominous for a county that is far from wealthy.
County Manager Joshua Potosek told the county legislature’s Public
Works Committee Thursday that they can soften the blow by splitting the
bond. That’s according to advice he says they are getting
from financial consultants.
“They’re not recommending borrowing all at once,” Potosek said. “They don’t think there would be a huge market for municipal debt in the $95 million range. They think $30 to $50 million is kind of a sweet spot.”
The balance would be bonded probably around the time construction on the jail is complete, perhaps by late 2018. That would be about the time the Montreign Casino, now under construction, should be up and running.
County officials remain hopeful that sales tax revenue from the casino, and ancillary retail business, will be on the high end of expectations.
In a hypothetical case, Potosek said with county taxes roughly 20 percent of the overall tax bill for property owners, and with the jail accounting for an additional five percent of county taxes, the bottom line for taxpayers will not be that big.
“That would mean the overall tax levy goes up one percent. So, if you had a $5,000 tax bill, you add the school, town, county, your tax bill will be going up 50 bucks.”
The county could be ready to put the project out to bid in the next couple of months.
