The helicopter owned by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office is more than 20 years old, and has frequently been out of commission and subject to costly repairs in recent years, according to Sheriff’s Office officials.
It’s been used for everything from rescuing hikers in Zoar Valley and boaters in Lake Erie to tracking car thieves and other criminal suspects from the air.
But when the Erie County Legislature agreed to place a $1 million down payment on a new chopper as part of budget deliberations last fall, some legislators had no idea they were obligating the county to a purchase agreement of $7.3 million for the base aircraft, plus another several million dollars in optional equipment.
At roughly $11 million, the new sheriff’s Airbus H135 helicopter is destined to be the single, most expensive equipment purchase in county history.
“The Legislature consented to the project by simply authorizing the down payment,” said Deputy Budget Director Mark Cornell. “You don’t put a down payment on something that you’re not planning to purchase.”
The cost of the helicopter became an issue when the $1 million in county operating money – pay-as-you-go funding – turned out to not be enough to cover the cost of the down payment of $1.46 million. The Sheriff’s Office had been counting on an additional $1 million state grant to cover the balance of the deposit, but Cornell told legislators that it hasn’t yet been awarded. So the county needed to reallocate another $464,904 out of the Sheriff’s Office budget to cover the cost.
The budget reallocation was granted, but not without some legislators expressing reservations. Some legislators were surprised to learn that a purchase order had already been signed. That essentially puts the county on the hook to pay the balance of the helicopter next year, or forfeit the $1.46 million down payment.
Cornell said the helicopter purchase agreement was not put out to bid because it…
Read the full article here