That's how much County Legislature Democrats say Monroe is losing out on because it opted into an alternative Medicaid cap - the intercept.

"This is not a surprise," said Legislator Paul Haney during a press conference today.

The county will probably dispute the Dems' numbers. Administration officials have consistently argued that, with the intercept, the county will save money in the long run.

Here's the Dems' math. During the first five months of 2006 and 2007, the county racked up 39.22 percent of its sales tax receipts. Through May of this year, the county collected $164 million, up 7.5 percent from the same period last year. Dems project that, by year's end, the county will have generated $419.5 million in sales tax revenues.

Under the intercept, 40.25 percent of that - $168.8 million - would go to the state, Dems said. In exchange for the money, the state waives the county's share of Medicaid costs. If the county would have stuck with the basic state-imposed cap, an incremental increase based on 2005 Medicaid costs, the county would pay the state $161.7 million, they said. Voila! A $7.1 million difference.

Of course, these are projections. Sales tax revenues can vary widely depending on several factors, including consumer spending. Again, the State Comptroller recommended last week that counties reduce their reliance on sales tax revenues, a suggestion he made for that very reason.