MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County legislature<\/strong> will see its number reduced to 19. That after lawmakers Wednesday night voted 16 to six in favor of directing the county\u2019s reapportionment committee to draw 19 district lines.<\/p>\n As expected, the action wasn\u2019t without some discussion.\u00a0Tom Erlandson<\/strong> (D-Frewsburg) called for reducing the size of the legislature down to 15 representatives. However, that motion was defeated by a vote of 14 to eight. In addition to finalizing the size of the legislature, lawmakers also approved a resolution calling for the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission<\/strong> to help draw the boundaries for the new 19 legislative districts \u2013 based on population numbers form the 2010 census. The members of the panel were also included in the resolution. They will be Fredonia\u2019s Minda Rae Amiran<\/strong> from the League of Woman Voters; Fredonia\u2019s Kevin Sanvich \u2013 selected as a representative of the County Chamber of Commerce;\u00a0 Larry Barmore<\/strong> (R-Gerry) and Tom DeJoe<\/strong> (D-Brocton) of the county legislature; and citizens Michael Haddad<\/strong> and David Sheppard<\/strong> of Jamestown, Sharon Kaminski<\/strong> of Fredonia, and Ray Rusboldt <\/strong> of Dunkirk.<\/p>\n Following last night\u2019s meeting, legislature chairman Jay Gould<\/strong> (R-Ashville) said the 19 lawmakers will have their work cut out for them because of all the committee work that will need to be shared amongst 19 lawmakers.<\/p>\n Lawmakers had to reduce the size of the body from 25 to at least 19 after a public referendum was overwhelmingly approved last November. The commission will have until the remainder of this year to get new boundaries drawn up. The 19 districts must be in place prior to the start of the 2013 local election season.<\/p>\n MAYVILLE – County Executive Greg Edwards<\/strong> also briefed the County Legislature last night on the accomplishments of 2011 along with some of the initiatives and challenges he has planned for 2012.\u00a0 In his annual \u201cState of the County<\/strong>\u201d address, Edwards pointed to several challenges facing the county \u2013 most notably a failure to get significant relief from Albany. Edwards said a lack of immediate relief from the state combined with several challenges local will once again put the county behind the financial eight ball.<\/p>\n Edwards also said other than increasing taxes, the county doesn\u2019t have a lot of other options to consider to help bring down the $14 million budget gap it is facing. He said property taxes could raise by as much as 23 percent in 2013 if no further action is taken. In order to find revenue sources to trim that potential deficit, Edwards called on politicians in Albany to help out, a move he said must start with better communication and partnerships between state lawmakers and local lawmakers, businesses, and even individual residents.<\/p>\nEDWARDS WARNS OF $14-MILLON DOLLAR GAP IN 2013 BUDGET DURING SOC ADDRESS<\/h3>\n