BUFFALO, N.Y. — The final stage of approval for the new Buffalo Bills stadium agreement is underway. On Thursday, the Erie County Legislature officially acknowledged the hundreds and hundreds of pages included in 19 documents and set a timeline to vote on them.
On April 5, New York State, Erie County, and the Bills announced that all documents and contracts for the new stadium project in Orchard Park had been signed and the legislature has pledged 30 days to review every aspect.
Erich Weyant, Chief of Staff to Chairwoman April Baskin, told 2 On Your Side on Thursday evening that hearings have been scheduled to take place on May 17 and 18, with a final vote possible on May 25.
It is the first specific timeline provided for county legislators to review the deal.
With $250 million in Erie County financing involved in the $1.54 billion project, lawmakers have said they are not taking the review lightly.
The Erie County Stadium Corporation (ECSC), the state entity that will own the stadium from which the Bills will lease, has already approved a shell of the deal and signed off on its first $300 million in state funding for the new stadium. The NFL and the Bills are investing a combined $550 million.
"We here in the legislature plan to be good stewards over the largest project in the history of Erie County. This is a very very big deal. I have heard murmurs that people are frustrated that we're taking the 30 days to review but I don't know what you would expect from such a serious and prominent piece of infrastructure development," Baskin said.
Baskin has requested that representatives from the state and Erie County Executive's team that negotiated the deal attend the two May meetings, to answer any lingering questions.
"This is a $1.6 billion dollar project. It's not anything you want to take lightly you want to make sure you go through these documents with a fine tooth comb which we are," 10th District Legislator James Malczewski said.
2 On Your Side learned Thursday that the county will be paying its part of the deal differently than previously reported. The change comes after Republican lawmakers expressed concern about debt service and the cost to taxpayers over time.
Instead of using $100 million in cash to pay for the new stadium and bonding for $150 million, the payment structure will be 50-50, with $125 million in cash and $125 million in bonds. The deal will lower the burden on county taxpayers, who ultimately pay the interest on those loans by $80 million over its term according to caucus calculations.
Erie County ended last year with a surplus of $50 million so it is well-positioned to make such an expense. It will also pay off $10 million in debt on the current stadium in Orchard Park.
Several transparency changes for reviewing past and future major county projects were also agreed to by Republican and Democratic Legislators, after according to Malczewski his caucus inquired about several projects where money had been borrowed, the county was paying interest, but the projects hadn't started.
As for a timeline? The Bills have said they want to break ground along Abbott Road in May or June.