BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County Sheriff’s Office is welcoming two new helicopters. However, a political and financial dispute has raised questions about the process. One of the helicopters might need to be sold before it is even outfitted.
"Nothing about this has been routine," said Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick (D).
Hardwick said the county does not currently have the money to outfit the helicopters with the specialized gear needed for operations. Hardwick said he was aware of plans to purchase one new helicopter, but not two.
“We were blindsided by this,” said Hardwick. “Rather than get one helicopter, which is all we wanted to save taxpayers money, they went ahead and—unbeknownst to us—turned one helicopter into two.”
WATCH: Erie County Comptroller says county can't afford to outfit new sheriff's office helicopters
The total purchase price for the helicopters is $7.7 million. Hardwick said the county only has $6.9 million in hand. He says the Erie County Sheriff’s Office included a $1 million state grant in its financing plan, even though the grant has not yet been received.
In a letter sent Friday, Erie County’s Director of Budget and Management pushed back against Hardwick, saying it is false that the county lacks funds to take delivery of the second helicopter.
Erie County Sheriff John Garcia (R) echoed that position in a statement from his office saying: “Sufficient funding is available, despite the Comptroller’s suggestion to the contrary.”
The Sheriff's Office's full statement:
Our contract with Davenport is for two helicopters, not one. It does not make sense to us that the Comptroller would encourage opening the County up to legal liability by breaching it. This is obviously an important public safety initiative, and multiple branches of County government agree; we are perplexed as to why the Comptroller would act as an impediment to such.
The math in Hardwick's letter appears to be off. After the deposit of $1,464,904.00, the total remaining balance was $6,302,900.86 ($3,151,450.43 is due upon receipt of each of the H-125 helicopters), not $7,767,804.86. The County allocated $6,500,000.00 in the budget for Capital Project A.24059, exceeding that 6,302,900.86 balance for the purchase of the two helicopters. Sufficient funding is available, despite the Comptroller’s suggestion to the contrary.
We continue to monitor activities in Washington. We remain optimistic that when the CJS Appropriations Act is approved, it will include $4.2 million for this project. We are only in this situation because the Erie County Sheriff's Office proactively sought state and federal funding for this project. Had the county bonded the entire amount, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
But outfitting costs remain a problem
Even with enough money to accept both helicopters, Hardwick says the county has no money left to pay for the specialized outfitting the aircraft need.
“We’re pretty sure we’re going to get [the grant], but it may be a while," said Hardwick. “If you include [the $1M grant] money, then we have just enough money to buy the two helicopters—but we have no money to upfit them unless Congressman Langworthy comes up with this, or we kick in more county taxpayer dollars."
Statement from Congressman Nick Langworthy
“The House’s 2026 appropriations bill text contains the $4.2 million for the helicopters, and I have made it clear this is a top priority for me. Since last year, Senator Schumer has consistently blocked a full appropriations process and his selfish and partisan shutdown derailed our progress yet again, but I am fighting hard to ensure that any spending deal includes this critical funding.”
Could one be sold?
A key detail in the Budget Director’s letter says the Sheriff has indicated that selling one of the new helicopters could be an option to generate money to upfit the other if funding doesn’t come through.
For now, Erie County could soon have three helicopters—two brand-new and one older aircraft—with no money available to outfit the new ones for service.
County officials have not yet said when the new helicopters will be fully ready for deployment, nor how much the outfitting will ultimately cost.
