Ellery Town Supervisor Larry Anderson addresses Chautauqua County Legislature (February 22, 2023)

The Town of Ellery has asked the Chautauqua County Legislature to support and help implement a six-point plan for improvement of Chautauqua Lake.

Legislator Lisa Vanstrom requested that Legislative Clerk Olivia Lee read the letter outlining the proposal from Ellery Town Supervisor Larry Anderson out loud for all members present to hear.

The plan for future lake improvement includes lakeside municipalities, the county, and state leaders reaching an agreement on the goal for Chautauqua Lake management. It also calls for contracting with a university-led group of scientists, engineers, and project managers to develop a multi-year management plan. The third point requests that $7 million in the County’s American Rescue Plan funds be designated toward the development and implementation of the plan. The fourth point seeks to revisit a county-wide funding mechanism for Chautauqua Lake protection and rehabilitation including use of existing property, sales, and occupancy tax revenue with the potential for increases in those tax rates.

The proposal would use an organization of lakeside municipality mayors and supervisors with support from county government to oversee the development and implementation of the plan and manage lake and watershed activities consistent with the goal set. This organization would be unaffiliated with lake organizations.

The last point in the proposal asks State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andy Goodell to work to obtain state funding for the lake and to work with the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Larry Anderson, speaking at the second privilege of the floor, thanked the legislature for reading the letter and said it took 50 to 60 years for Chautauqua Lake to “get this bad,” “And it’s not going to get fixed overnight. It’s going to take some time. But I really feel that our six-point plan is the way to start and if we can get enough support and everybody comes together with the townships, the villages along the lake, that I think we can finally go in the right direction.”

The Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency, which was formed in 2018 to study the creation of a lake protection and rehabilitation district, voted in January to not move forward with a tax district.

Bemus Point Mayor Jeff Molnar also addressed the Legislature and said after attending various CLPRA and lake organization meetings, it was clear that “not everyone was rowing in the right direction,” “I’ve learned about the proposal that the town of Ellery has put forward. And unless I get any negative feedback from my Board of Trustees in the village, then I intend to support, at least, the portion about the mayors and supervisors organization.”

Mayville Mayor Rick Syper also made a short statement saying he supports Ellery’s plan.

County Executive PJ Wendel said the lakeside municipality leaders group proposed by Ellery to oversee the effort would be a new group.

He said while 3 of the 9 leaders are in agreement, it’s been tough to get consensus, “I don’t think they’re too far off but everybody has their different opinions and philosophies. And we’ve said this, we’re not going to get a unanimous consensus, but we do have to look at what’s happening. My push for this year is a collaborative effort. We have yet to do that in Chautauqua Lake. We harvest and we use herbicides. But I have a big push with our working group, if you will, between the Watershed (Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy) , CLA (Chautauqua Lake Association), and CLP (Chautauqua Lake Partnership) to have a collaborative plan this year to start.”

Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon gave credit to Ellery for developing the plan. He said there’s significant overlap between what the town and County Executive Wendel are working on, “I know that the County Executive has met with the town of Ellery representatives to discuss his directions and their plan. Personally, I think that it’s exciting, the concept of getting all of the towns and villages around the lake agreeing on what should be done and working together to help the lake.”

Chagnon said he’s looking forward to learning more about Wendel’s plan in the near future.

“The total amount paid through MuniciPay was just over $935,000 so I think that really contributed to that jump of people being out of town and able to just get on and pay their taxes. We also saw the issuance of the stimulus payments which we saw our payments pick up in March with those being issued.”

Williams said property owners can still make payments at the Treasurer’s Office, including partial payments.

A chart from the State Comptroller’s February 2018 report on property tax exemptions, illustrating breakdown of statewide exemptions.

ALBANY – State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued a report Monday highlighting recent trends in property tax exemptions in New York State outside of New York City and the impact they have on local governments and school districts.

The report illustrated the large number of properties that qualify for full or partial tax exemption status in the state, and also offers evidence that eligible properties within the city of Jamestown are about 7 percent higher than the statewide average.

In 2016, 2.7 million properties in the state outside of New York City (58.3 percent) were eligible for some type of tax exemption, according to DiNapoli’s report.

The value of these exemptions totaled $457 billion, approximately 30 percent of total property value ($1.5 trillion). When compared to 2006, this represents a five percent decrease in both the number of properties eligible for exemptions (2.9 million in 2006) and their total value ($479 billion).

The state percentage of exempt properties is 7 percent lower compared to the local exemptions in Jamestown. According to Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi’s 2018 Budget Presentation, there are currently 8,392 individual exemptions (on 14,730 total tax parcels), which have removed $387,313,378 from the city’s assessment rolls. That means approximately 37 percent of the $1.05 billion in assessed property value within the city is on the “exempt” or non-taxable rolls.

“Property tax exemptions can be a valuable tool to improve housing affordability or fuel economic growth,” said DiNapoli. “Since exemptions result in other taxpayers generally bearing financial responsibility for the offset in tax burden, it is vital that exemptions be carefully considered and periodically reevaluated to determine their effectiveness.”

Teresi took a harsher tone in October 2017.

“The recent statewide growth in and impact of tax exempt entities severely erodes the tax base of local governments and school districts, unfairly transfers the tax burden to remaining homeowners and businesses, and further compromises New York’s position as a fair and competitive environment in which to live and invest,” Teresi said in October as part of his budget address. “It is high time that the State Legislature recognizes and utilizes the authority vested in it by the State Constitution and starts dealing head on with the growing statewide problem.”

BREAKDOWN OF EXEMPTION CATEGORIES

According to the Comptroller, the largest exemption category in New York, both in total dollars and number of exemptions, is the “residential” category. In this category, the state’s School Tax Relief program (STAR) – which applies to a large portion of owner-occupied primary residences in the state outside of New York City – represents the majority share. STAR accounted for 2.4 million partial exemptions in 2016, worth $141 billion, or 31 percent of all exempted value. However, unlike other exemptions, STAR creates no direct additional burden on other local property taxpayers, since the school tax on the exempt amount is reimbursed by the state.

The next largest categories of exemptions are for local government and school district exemptions ($103.6 billion, 23 percent of all exemptions); non-profit organizations such as hospitals, education institutions and churches ($66.1 billion, 14 percent); and state-owned property ($44.8 billion, 10 percent).

The report also revealed:

• The number of business investment property exemptions and their value has dropped steadily over the past decade, from $2.5 billion in 2006 to $938 million in 2016. As of June 2017, almost 650 local governments and school districts have either reduced the percentage or disallowed this exemption entirely.
• For Fiscal Year Ending 2015, 109 Industrial Development Agencies reported they had granted $1 billion in property tax exemptions that were offset by $500 million in payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreements.
• To offset the loss of property tax revenue, some local governments charge user fees to not-for-profit organizations to help pay for services such as water, sewer and refuse pick-up. They have also arranged for voluntary payments to defray the cost of other municipal services such as police and fire protection.

The Comptroller’s report includes several examples from around the state of significant exemptions granted for government-owned property; large exemptions for business and private power-generating facilities; and substantial exemptions for not-for-profit organizations.

State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli released a report on Friday that said many of New York’s local governments are coping with slow or no revenue growth, making it difficult for them to maintain services while keeping pace with rising fixed costs such as health care.

• READ FULL REPORT

“New York’s municipal governments are seeing sales tax revenue growth slow and state aid remain essentially flat while they and school districts are coping with tax cap and tax freeze initiatives that limit growth in property taxes,” DiNapoli said. “As local governments adapt to changing circumstances, my office will continue to support them with training, analysis and guidance.”

Thomas DiNapoli

According to the report, Local government spending growth has increased between 0.9 and 2 percent annually since 2010.  Spending by school districts remained below 1 percent for three years starting in 2011, but ticked up at a higher rate in the last couple of years, when compared to counties, cities, towns, villages and fire districts, due to increases in state aid to schools.

DiNapoli’s report found that local sales tax revenue growth fell from 3.6 percent to 1.8 percent in the first nine months of 2016 from the same period a year earlier.

School districts, towns and villages rely on the property tax for approximately half of their revenues. The property tax levy limit that took effect in 2012 effectively restricts reliance on property tax revenues to fund increases in local spending. In recent years, the tax cap’s allowable levy growth factor has been less than 2 percent.

Unrestricted State Aid for Municipalities (AIM) has been frozen at $715 million for five years. However, large financial settlements with banks have bolstered state revenues and some of the windfall has been targeted to programs that help local governments.

Despite the noted financial pressures, fewer local governments have been designated in fiscal stress under DiNapoli’s fiscal stress monitoring system.

Counties and cities showed more signs of stress, but improved in 2015, while the number of school districts in stress was stable at 12 percent.

In 2016, DiNapoli’s office completed over 500 audits of localities and schools and trained more than 10,000 local government officials and staff. The audits identified nearly $49 million in cost savings and revenue enhancements.

On Wednesday night Horrigan delivered the 2016 state of the county to the Chautauqua County Legislature, spending half an hour detailing recent successes while also outlining his agenda for the current year.

• MOBILE APP USERS: LISTEN HERE
• STATE OF THE COUNTY: FULL TEXT

Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan delivers his 2016 State of the County report to the Chautauqua County Legislature in the legislature chambers in Mayville, NY on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016.

Some of the highlights of the past year include returning the sales tax to 8 percent, which allowed the county to then cut the property tax by 6 percent. He also focused on the creation of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, which helped to find ways to reduce the local inmate population at the county jail. Other highlights included the finalization of the countywide shared services plan, the Northern Chautauqua County Water District, various economic development efforts, and continued work to improve the health of Chautauqua Lake.

But Horrigan also focused on several major challenges, including the mothballing of the NRG power plant in Dunkirk which could lead to the combined loss of up to $8 million in tax payments for the county, city of Dunkirk, and Dunkirk school district. Horrigan said NRG has already planned to reduce its PILOT payments, although he’s confident it wouldn’t have an immediate impact on local government.

“At this point I feel very confident that should NRG’s PILOT drop by $6.8 million as NRG has told us, we will be assisted through the state budget process to reduce the impact on the delivery of our critical services,” Horrigan said. “However, help will be transitional. It will be short term in nature and we have to have an endgame where we come out the other end of this with the right size structure.”

He also pointed to the current financial challenges of nearly every municipality in the county, including Jamestown, saying now more than ever the county needs to focus on shared services. As a result, he said he’ll create a Regional Solutions Commission, chaired by legislator George Borrello and including representatives from both local and state governments as well as the public and private sectors, to identify ways to share services and reduce the cost of running local government.

“The commission will be charged with facilitating public forums, identifying regional initiatives and then developing those initiatives into specific proposals for implementation. We will be tapping into the Governor’s municipal consolidation incentive funding which has been very helpful in achieving the successes we have seen in our 2015 regional solutions,” Horrigan said.

And Horrigan also pointed to the continued social and health challenges – including the heroin and opioid epidemic as well as poor nutrition and overall health for many residents. During his address, he acknowledged that more needs to be done if the county is to turn the corner on the drug crisis.

“In spite of progress in treatment, education, law enforcement, and mobilizing the public, we are struggling to find real progress,” Horrigan said. “I will continue to do everything I can in partnership with our health care providers, our law enforcement agencies, our judges, and our state and federal leaders to continue to fight this enemy of our community. We need all hands on deck including our families and faith based institutions to win this fight here in Chautauqua County.”

Horrigan also hinted at another major economic development opportunity, saying there have been talks about the possibility of bringing a major commercial vehicle parts manufacturer to the county. However, he also said that right now that project is in the early discussion phases and there’s no guarantee it will be a reality.

Senator Catherine Young (R-Olean)

ALBANY – Senator Cathy Young (R,C,I-Olean) says New York’s property tax cap law needs to stay permanent.

With the prospects of the cap expiring, the Olean Republican has launched an online petition to garner support for the Senate Republican Majority’s effort to make the property tax cap permanent.

Implemented just a few short years ago, the property tax cap more-or-less prevents local governments from raising property taxes by more than 2 percent. In order for any tax to exceed the cap, it would require a super-majority vote of the local government’s legislative body.

According to Young, the cap has helped families, seniors and businesses gain a sense of security and consistency in their budget.

A recent report that looked at the decades-long trends of school tax increases estimates that taxpayers in Western New York have saved nearly $450 million and statewide taxpayers have saved $7.6 billion as a result of the property tax cap. Since the cap was implemented, school tax levies in Western New York have increased about 2.4 percent annually, compared to the 5.1 percent annual increase in the 30 years prior.

Last week, Senator Young and her Republican colleagues in the Senate passed legislation that would make the property tax cap permanent.

She’s also asking residents who support a permanent tax cap to sign her petition, located at her website.

Andy Goodell

ALBANY – There are several key issues that still need to be addressed by lawmakers in the state capital.

That from assemblyman Andy Goodell, who returned to Albany earlier this week to begin the second half of the legislative session. Among the items to be considered is an increase the state minimum wage, which is already at $8.75 an hour and will jump up to $9 an hour at the end of this year. According to Goodell, he’s against raising the minimum wage anymore because he says it would prohibit job growth…

“I think that will hopefully be blocked because we’ve had three increases of minimum wage in the last three years<” Goodell said. “And every time you increase the minimum wage, the number of entry level jobs – which are the jobs that the working poor need – gets reduced.”

Goodell said his main focus will be on welfare reform to make it easier for people to get off of welfare and into the workforce.

“That includes random drug testing so that when someone applies for a job they can pass the pre-employment drug test requirements,” Goodell said. “It involves increasing the earned income tax credit so people can actually make more money as they go to work – the Earned Income Tax is really helpful for the working poor.”

Goodell said he’ll also introduce a bill to help increase graduation rates while also ensuring that graduates are equipped with the skills needed to enter the workforce.

As for legislation that has an impact locally, Goodell said he will push for support to increase the local sales tax to 8 percent – which county officials have said is necessary to provide property tax relief.

“When you look at our economy, that probably makes sense because we have a lot of agricultural interests in manufacturing, both of which are really affected by the property taxes and we have a significant number of senior citizens and the property taxes are a real burden,” Goodell said. “On the other hand, we also have a large tourism industry. So when you increase the sales tax, our guests from out of the area are paying more of our tax burden.”

Goodell said he thinks it’s likely he will be able to get the county’s request for a sales tax increase up for a vote in the Assembly. As for the Senate, Senator Cathy Young says that as long as the county can show that a sales tax increase will result in lower property taxes, it’s likely the Senate will approve the increase as well. situation.