Chautauqua County Legislature

The Chautauqua County Legislature unanimously passed the 2022 budget with a property tax and tax levy decrease.

The new property tax rate will be $8.10 per $1,000 assessed value, which is 40-cents lower than the current rate. The real property tax levy will be $66,912,293, which is $271,102 dollars lower than the current levy.

Audit and Control Chair Legislator Chuck Nazzaro thanked everyone involved in the budget process, saying County Executive PJ Wendel had presented a structurally sound budget back in September, “This budget provides property tax relief, there’s no use of undesignated fund balance, it creates a contingency account for those unexpected expenses, and meets our five-year plan.”

Legislator Terry Niebel said he supports the budget but urged some caution, “We did create 42 new positions this year. And I realize that many of these positions are 100% funded either by the state or federal government, but look, two or three years from now we’re going to have to decide how we’re going to fund these positions or if we’re going to fund these positions at all.”

The Legislature also approved via block vote 13 resolutions related to spending American Rescue Plan funds. A resolution on a new handgun project was pulled. Projects that were approved for funding included the $4.68 million to purchase a crane, two dump/plow trucks, a snow blower, and long-arm excavator. The use of $1.4 million to purchase property to turn them into shovel-ready sites as approved. The Frank W. Bratt Ag Building will receive $1.1 million for building upgrades. And over $2 million dollars will go toward economic development initiatives such as bolstering the bed tax fund, providing marketing assistance, workforce development initiatives, and funding the Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth.

A resolution to spend $72,000 in ARP fund to do a study of the Jamestown Airport on bringing back Essential Air Service failed by a vote of 4 to 15.

Legislator Elisabeth Rankin voted no, saying so much work has already been done on the airport, “I am totally in favor of any infrastructure investment that will help the county. And I’ve been the beneficiary of years of flying in and out of Jamestown Airport. However, I do believe we’ve given it its chance and I think its time has come and gone. And I’m not in favor of a study, of spending money on a study that I don’t think is going to get us anywhere.”

Legislators Chuck Nazzaro, Jay Gould, and Bill Ward also voiced their opposition to spending money on another study of the airport.

Legislators did unanimously approve a contract with the the County Sheriff’s Supervisor’s Association. The contract agreement runs from January 1st, 2022 through December 31st, 2025. It includes modifications to longevity, employer and employee cost share of the health plan, the retiree cash-out benefit, the addition of a cell phone stipend of $50 per month, an increase to the clothing allowance, and a change from a three to a four step salary schedule.

Norman Green

County Executive candidate Norm Green is condemning the hiring of 42 employees in the yet to be adopted 2022 county budget. The Democrat says the budget is unsustainable without future tax increases.

Green is challenging incumbent County Executive PJ Wendel, who is running on the Republican and Conservative lines.

Green said there are 100 more employees on the county payroll from five years ago with 42 of the hires in the proposed 2022 budget. He added that 200 employees took voluntary layoffs during the pandemic and claimed that layoffs created a budget windfall.

Green said future costs of annual wage increases are not reflected in the current budget.

Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel released his 2022 Executive Budget Wednesday night. WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley talked to him about the details in that plan and more.

PJ Wendel

Expenditures in the budget are up 6.7% due to increases in personnel costs including new positions. Around 41 new personnel are included in the budget added to health and human services, mental hygiene, the Public Defender’s Office, public health administration, road maintenance, and the District Attorney’s office. The budget reflects the settled contracts with the three largest unions.

The budget has an 8.5% increase in revenues, which includes a $5 million increase in sales tax revenues. The sales tax revenue assumptions are being based on 2021 sales tax projections, which were set at 2019 levels. Other revenues include additional state aid for roads and bridges, and federal aid health and human services programs returning to pre-pandemic levels of funding.

Wendel said the 2021 comeback was stronger than the 2020 budget setback, “Since we thought outside of the box, now we can re-imagine county government, discussing the delivery of services, use of our workforce and facilities; revenue sources, a three to five year budget plan – a 2022 budget that’s part of our multi-year plan.”

Wendel said the budget expands services and programs, “Without using unassigned fund balance. The increased funding from New York State allows the County to expand its road maintenance efforts. The sales tax and occupancy budgets are conservative, yet attainable. And our Capital projects include investments in road machinery, broadband service, greenfield development, emergency service vehicles, improvements to the JCC campuses, just to name a few.”

Wendel said his goals for the 2022 budget were to present a structurally sound budget, maintain a general fund balance of five to 15% of revenues and present a budget with a tax levy at, or below, the tax levy limit.