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County Loses Out On Bid For $20M Regionalism Grant

Chautauqua County, one of six finalists, will not be the winner of a $20 million efficiency grant to reduce property taxes and modernize services.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County as the winner of the first Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency Competition this week. The winning plan is expected to produce savings of more than $120 million for Suffolk County taxpayers over the next 10 years.

Chautauqua County Executive George Borrello, who spear-headed the county’s proposal that included 33 municipalities and potential consolidations, expressed his disappointment with the news.

“I want to thank everyone for the immense amount of time you dedicated to developing our projects and the grant application process,” he said in a memo to Chautauqua County employees and officials. “I am very proud of how we all worked together. We submitted a very strong and innovative package of projects that were thought by many to be a top contender compared to most of the other applicants.

“While we did not bring home the ultimate prize, there are many other funding programs with the Department of State, and they have indicated they would like to work with us to facilitate funding for as many of our projects as possible. The hard work performed by us all means that these worthwhile, transformative projects are now ‘ready to go’ to hopefully receive funding.”

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