Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan Delivers the 2014 State of the County Address on Wednesday, March 26, as members of the county legislature look on.

MAYILLE – Chautauqua County is “ready for growth.”

That was the message delivered last night by County Executive Vince Horrigan during his first state of the county address to the Chautauqua County Legislature.

Horrigan spent nearly 30 minutes delivering his state of the county, highlighting both the positive news and the challenges that have cropped up during the past year. Among the highlights was the effort by local, state and federal officials to save the NRG plant in Dunkirk.

“We are now well on our way to the successful repowering of NRG in the city of Dunkirk, to provide a reliable source of clean gas energy and a stable tax base in Dunkirk and in our schools,” Horrigan said, adding, “And this is the result of a coalition – a coalition of people in government, in the private sector, and in labor… to be able to bring us together.”

Horrigan also pointed to the start up of the County Land Bank Corporation, which is helping to remove blighted property from several communities and bring that property back in the tax roll. And he announced that it was a strong year for tourism, with the county’s bed tax receipts seeing a $400,000 increase in 2013, compared to the previous year.

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan.

As for challenges, Horrigan pointed to the recent news that ConAgra would be leaving the north county within the year and taking more than 400 jobs with it. He also pointed to the challenges with the county’s aging infrastructure and finding a new air carrier for the county airport. And Horrigan highlighted mandates in the county budget the local government has no control over, saying that 90 percent of the budget come by way of unfunded mandates from Albany.

In addition, Horrigan said the county’s low sales tax rate has made it difficult for the county to bring in additional revenue. “Ninety percent of the counties in New York State have a sales tax rate of 8 percent or more. Only six out of 62 have a sales tax rate of under 8 percent, and Chautauqua County is one them – the only county in Western New York.”

Besides pointing out the highlights and challenges of the past year, Horrigan also looked to the rest of this year, announcing a new initiative he’s calling Operation Jump Start.

“You’ve heard the good news and you’ve heard the reality. So what is the current state of our county? I call it ‘Ready for Growth.’ We must grow Chautauqua County by working together and we’ll do that by what I’m calling Operation Jump Start,” Horrigan said.

Horrigan says Operation Jump-Start will focus on five key issues: Collaboration; Workforce Development; job retention; job expansion and growing tourism. He said that when it comes to collaboration, partnership between public and private sectors is going to be essential.

“Privatization and public-private opportunities must be exploited to reduce the cost of government,” Horrigan said. “Privatization is the only way to cut down government taxation while still provided services through the public sector, where possible. The key to property tax relief is growth in our tax base. we need to welcome more taxpayers, not impose higher taxes.”

In order to succeed with his plan of action, Horrigan said he was modeling Operation Jump-Start after a similar plan used in Oswego County.

A full copy of the state of the county is available on the county website. WRFA will also provide the address, in its entirety, during this week’s Community Matters program (6 p.m. Thursday, Noon Sunday).