County Legislature Chairman and Chautauqua Lake Protection & Rehabilitation Agency Chair Pierre Chagnon addresses crowd at CLPRA Meeting (January 19, 2023)

The concept of a Chautauqua Lake Tax District is dead in the water.

Members of the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency voted Thursday night before a crowd of nearly 100 people to not recommend the formation of a lake tax district to the Chautauqua County Legislature.

The motion was made by Chautauqua Town Supervisor Don Emhardt, who said he thought the whole thing “got off to a bad start,” “And the negative publicity and the number of negative emails I’ve received over the last week, week and a half.. It wasn’t gonna pass. So, we might as well just call it now rather than going through another two or three years of making a final recommendation.”

The CLPRA was initially formed in 2018 and tasked with forming a lake protection and rehabilitation district.

County Legislature Chairman and CLPRA Chairman Pierre Chagnon said the agency has been working with consultants, Barton and LoGuidice, on a possible structure of a tax district to be presented to the state and, if approved, then sent to the County Legislature.

He said that changes with the motion made by the CLPRA members to stop the process where it’s at, “…And make our recommendation to the legislature not to pursue a district. That motion was carried by a majority of the (CLPRA) agency members. So the agency’s task, which it was tasked by the (County) Legislature to make a recommendation, is complete.”

Chagnon said he thinks this outcome happened partly due to the discussion changing from generalities about there being a fee or a tax to discussions of what the fee might be for different tiers or parcels, “And then it started to become more of a reality to people, other than a generality, of what this could be to the property owners. And I think that that reality, I know from talking to at least a couple of agency members, that realization, that reality really opened their eyes and changed their view of the whole process.”

Chagnon said with their task complete, the CLPRA is considered dissolved.

He said the County could look at other lake funding options like a boat fee, but that would still require approval from the state.

Spending by local agencies and municipalities on Chautauqua Lake efforts

The Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency is expected to make a recommendation on a new taxing district and tax fund to address lake issues at its meeting Thursday.

Freshwater Future of Michigan, whose mission is to be a “catalyst for community action that strengthens policies designed to safeguard the waters of the Great Lakes region,” put out a press release on the expected action by the CLPRA at the agency’s meeting on Thursday, January 19.

According to Freshwater Future, the proposed Chautauqua Lake tax district would tax property owners throughout the watershed even though a survey for resident input on this new tax was only sent to lakefront and lakefront access property owners. They criticized the processs, saying there is no clear long-term plan for how to use the proposed new tax revenue to return the lake to health.

At the last public meeting held by the CLPRA, consultants from Barton and LoGuidice went over three lake funding options that included a tiered flat fee, equivalent residential units, and a formula based fee. Other funding options could also include a near-lake district tax, a watershed/drainage district tax, a user impact fee and a boat user fee.

After a funding mechanism is selected, a fourth public information meeting will be held in February 2023 to present the findings.

The CLPRA’s meeting will be held at 5:00 p.m., Thursday, January 19 in the Legislative Chambers of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville. It is open to the public and will be livestreamed on the County’s YouTube page.

Public information meeting held by the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency (December 1, 2022)

Several dozen people attended the third public information meeting on options for funding a potential Chautauqua Lake District.

Consultants from Barton and LoGuidice went over three funding options that included a tiered flat fee, equivalent residential units, and a formula based fee. Other funding options could also include a near-lake district tax, a watershed/drainage district tax, a user impact fee and a boat user fee.

Barton and LoGuidice Environmental Scientist Jack Williams said a legal analysis determined that a county-wide tax could not be done as local funding mechanisms must be based on the benefits achieved by lake improvements or the impact to Chautauqua Lake. As not all communities are located within the watershed for Chautauqua Lake, by law they’re not considered as receiving direct benefits or having direct impacts on the lake.

The next steps will include the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency reviewing feedback and then selecting a funding mechanism in January 2023. A fourth public information meeting will be held in February 2023 to present the findings.

To view the presentations on the funding mechanisms or to provide feedback, visit bartonloguidice.mysocialpinpoint.com/chautauqua-co-lake-fund

The meeting was the second information session held by the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency and consulting firm, Barton & Loguidice, as part of Phase One of the process. The goal was to present options on how to form a district and what made the most sense based on input.

The CLPRA estimates that, based on historical spending by local agencies, it would take a minimal annual budget in excess of $3 million to maintain current in-lake and watershed initiatives. Funding from a Lake District would be funneled through the CLPRA to those agencies.

Barton and Loguidice’s Jayme Berschard said there are several ways to define boundaries of a lake district including near lake properties that have waterfront access or shoreline properties, “Then we have our watershed, based on the HUC boundaries, which is lot of what the Lake Watershed Management Plan would have drawn up are the watershed boundaries that contribute to some of the watershed for the lake basin and how water basically moves in a particular area. Another potential idea to draw a boundary is to possibly use the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.”

Berschard said Chautauqua County is unique in that it has an almost regional version of a LWRP.

When it comes to funding mechanisms for the Lake District, Bershard presented possible options such as a Near Lake District Tax, a Watershed/Drainage Area District Tax, a User Impact fee, and a Boat User fee.
Based on polling done at the meeting and online, over 60% of attendees support long-term and sustainable funding for Chautauqua Lake.

When ranked, attendees preferred to see a hybrid model for funding a lake district, with a watershed tax district coming in second, and a watershed impact district coming in third. Many cited creating a county-wide tax district as part of the hybrid model.

Deputy County Executive of Economic Development Mark Geise said another public meeting is set to occur late this Fall, possibly in November, as part of Phase One of the study. He said Phase 2 is anticipated to start in 2023 and would involve fleshing out what model will be used for a district, what the fees will be, who will pay those fees, and where the money will be directed.

Attendees were directed to send any additional input on the Lake District to the project page, which can be found here: https://bartonloguidice.mysocialpinpoint.com/chautauqua-co-lake-fund

The meeting on the “Study of Funding Mechanisms for Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation, Phase I” will take place at 5:00 p.m. in the Legislative Chambers (3rd floor) of the Gerace Office Building.

The County’s Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency estimates that, based on historical spending by agencies, it would take a minimal annual budget in excess of $3 million to maintain current in-lake and watershed initiatives.

The CLPRA hired engineering and planning architecture firm, Barton & Loguidice, to develop a study of funding mechanisms for a lake district.

A CLPRA survey completed in 2021 found 60% of survey takers support the formation of a Lake District.

While the meeting is in person and open to the public, it will also be streamed on the County’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ChautauquaCountyGovernment/.

The Chautauqua Lake Partnership and Rehabilitation Agency gave the County Planning Department the okay at its May meeting to look into the scope of work involved to do a feasibility study of such a district.

Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency CEO Mark Geise said a consultant would then make a recommendation, “Yes, or no, does it makes sense to try to create one district? Or if not, then does it make sense to create two districts or does it not make sense to do either one of those things? What about user fees? And then looking at how this thing would be managed.”

Advisory Group member and Ellicott Town Supervisor Pat McLaughlin said he thinks it’s good to move forward but there are many unanswered questions, “Are the people who live on the lake going to pay the higher percentage and then as you move away from the lake you’re going to pay a little bit less? Those really, at this point, are some unanswered questions. There have been suggestions on what those might be, but I think we have to reach a point where we know what the budget, what the total is we have to charge for this and we just don’t have those answers yet.”

Geise said the goal is to report back to the group in a month in what would be in the feasibility study, “Just what would the scope of work of that look like? And what do we think ballpark something like that would cost? And then have this group say yes and, by the way, where the money would come from.”

Any recommendation by the Chautauqua Lake Partnership and Rehabilitation Agency on creating a Lake District would still have to be approved by the Chautauqua County Legislature.

“If they choose to continue, then the next steps would be forming a work plan, developing a work plan, but before we can even do that we’ve got to figure out how much would it cost, where’s the money come from and what’s the scope of the work for that work plan?”

Geise said there’s a lot to be determined in the work plan on how lake district fees could be used,

“We’re talking about, you know, weed harvesting, more studying of the lake, understanding the science better, the use of herbicides, preservation, all of those things that possibly that we’re talking about and to improve the quality of the Lake.”

63% of the survey respondents support the charging of fees for boats on the Lake if all legal impediments to such fees were resolved.

A full summary of the survey results can be found on the County Department of Planning and Development’s website at planningchautauqua.com.