Two million-plus-plus.
That’s what Schoharie County’s spending a year on homelessness.
And it’s about to get a lot worse.
“We are at a crisis,” Social Services Commissioner Donna Becker told supervisors Friday.
“I’m begging you: Let’s get something done ASAP.”
Ms. Becker’s concerns came at the end of a lengthy discussion about possibilities at the old jail.
Consultants GRI Engineers have put the cost of turning the old jail into a homeless center at $17.7 million.
It’s a project that could get some help from the state, Sarah Watson from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said Friday.
How much depends on how big it ends up being and what type of services it offers.
The best option, she said, would likely be a mix of emergency, permanent supportive, and affordable housing, alongside things like emergency care services, job training, a pharmacy, or even a small grocery store.
That’s a strategy Seward Supervisor Earlin Rosa’s Homeless Strategy Committee has been expanding on for the past six months.
“I’m not a bleeding heart, but unfortunately, the more I delve into this, the more I become one,” Mr. Rosa said.
Citing just-released statistics from the Census Bureau, Mr. Rosa said the poverty rate has jumped from 7.8 percent in 2022 to 12.4 percent, while 12.4 percent of children are now living in poverty—more than twice the number as in ’21--due to the expiration of a temporary boost to the child tax credit that came as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, and increases in groceries and gas.
“It’s all coming to us,” he said. “Schoharie is not immune. Right now, the PSF [Public Safety Facility—the old jail] is a resource we can’t dismiss until we’ve exhausted all other avenues.”
Those avenues could even include demolishing the old jail and rebuilding on the seven-acre site.
“I’m not really in favor of renovation,” said Schoharie Supervisor Alan Tavenner; it’s likely too costly. “If demolition and using the site is an option…
“It’s in the flood plain, not the flood way,” Mr. Tavenner said, after Gilboa Supervisor Alicia Terry reminded supervisors the site’s flooded before, adding “We shouldn’t let the whole flood plain issue cloud this.”
Blenheim Supervisor Don Airey pushed Ms. Watson on how much funding the state would provide.
“Because I think we’re under-hitting when we say we’re spending $2 million,” he said. “It’s really $2 million-plus-plus.”
It’s impossible to say, Ms. Watson said, without knowing the size and scope of the project, but “The most successful programs marry all these different types of housing and the more tools we have, the better off we’ll be.”
That $2 million also doesn’t take into account the money lost in O-Tax because there’s no space in hotels for visitors, Sharon Supervisor Sandy Manko said, or to the lack of affordable housing for project like Highbridge, said Supervisors chair Bill Federice.
“We’re getting a lot more looks. We’re on the cusp of having a great deal of interest in Schoharie County,” Mr. Federice said. “But if we can’t keep people here…”
Studies are cheap, most supervisors agreed, and there’s nothing to be lost by continuing to study their options.
‘We have to look under every rock and see what our options are,” Mr. Federice said.
But status quo isn’t the answer, Ms. Becker said.
The resources, like the housing vouchers DSS had during COVID, “have wasted away. That’s why we’re see the numbers we are. We’ve never had seven families homeless at one time before. We’ve never had to turn away single people…We are at a crisis.”