The boss of Erie County’s troubled jail system will not be getting a raise — not yet, anyway.

No county lawmaker stood Thursday to defend the more than 10 percent raise proposed for Robert A. Koch Jr., and the matter was returned to a Legislature committee.

Consequently, Koch’s salary will remain at $95,118, at least for the moment.

Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, through his aides, had told the Legislature that the state Commission of Correction was forcing him to grant Koch a new title and, as a result, a new salary of almost $105,000.

The commission, according to the sheriff’s documents, wanted Erie County to establish one chief officer for the Jail Management Division, which runs the county Holding Center downtown and Correctional Facility in Alden.

Koch has risen through the ranks during an almost 30-year career and has been established as the highest-ranking jail official for at least several months. But two other employees also hold the title of “first deputy superintendent.”

Howard wanted Koch to officially carry the better-paid title of superintendent and in documents warned that “the Sheriff’s Office may be subject to further action from the Commission of Correction if the position of superintendent is not established.”

The state commission, which regulates local jails, has found numerous faults with the Holding Center and Correctional Facility and has filed a lawsuit against the sheriff in an effort to prompt improvements downtown.

With the threat of new state action, the proposed raise breezed through the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee weeks ago, en route to full Legislature approval. Howard’s team also assured the committee it could grant the raise to Koch and stay within the sheriff’s 2010 budget.

Since then, the Commission of Correction contradicted Howard’s documents by saying it has not forced any change in Koch’s status.

A trio of Legislature Democrats stood Thursday to challenge the raise: Thomas A. Loughran of Amherst and Maria R. Whyte and Betty Jean Grant, both of Buffalo. But before they could build up any steam, the head of the Public Safety Committee, Christina Wleklinski-Bove, returned the matter to her panel.

The Howard team can still try to resurrect Koch’s raise, which would be retroactive to Jan. 2.

The Legislature bogged down on other major issues Thursday. After hours of behind- the-scenes discussions, a majority did not form to ratify the county executive’s decision to let the state-appointed control board close on a more than $170 million loan for major government improvement projects.

County Executive Chris Collins, reversing his previous stance, wants the control board to close on 13-year bonds that would save a reported $21 million in repayment costs. Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, figuring the savings are more like $14 million over 13 years, fiercely lobbied lawmakers to consider the long-term implications— the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority would then have to exist until at least 2023.

With the Legislature due to meet again in just one week, the matter was put off.

Copyright 2010, The Buffalo News