NORWICH – The county board last week authorized an extra $132,000 for 2011 expenses at the Chenango County Public Safety Facility that weren’t previously budgeted.

A county contingency fund will be tapped to pay for maintenance needed at the sheriff’s office and jail, which officially opened on Upper Ravine Road in the Town of Norwich in 2007. About $50,000 will be spent to repave the parking lot, purchase a new dishwasher for the kitchen and to replace three electronic locks that no longer work. For additional fringe and medical costs incurred last year, lawmakers will turn to sales tax collections. A dedicated 1 percent supports jail operations, maintenance, labor and the 911 emergency communications tower system.

Lawmakers who sit on the county’s Finance Committee previously made the distinction between the two funding streams. Finance Vice Chairman Dennis Brown, D-Pharasalia, said the specific maintenance costs should have been included in the 2012 budget, so taking the funds from county contingency was “more transparent.”

Prior to approving the expenditures, Supervisor Peter C. Flanagan, D-Preston, pulled the proposals for further discussion. He asked why new locks were needed at the facility. Sheriff Ernest Cutting said the company that made the original locks is no longer in business and that another company is retrofitting the replacements.