County lawmakers are adding even more money to next year’s budget for safety net costs, but have been able to do so without further increasing the proposed county tax levy or rate.

Last week the Chautauqua Chautauqua County Legislature held five meetings totaling about 20 hours in budget review.

At the meeting various department heads were called in to discuss the budget proposed by County Executive PJ Wendel.

Wendel has proposed a $309.7 million budget with a tax rate of $6.17 per $1,000 assessed valuation. This is a reduction of 54 cents from this year’s budget.

The levy, the amount raised by taxes, is proposed to go up by 2%.

According to Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, R-Ellery, Wendel had budgeted $10 million for safety net costs, an increase of $1.7 million from 2025.

However in September, the county’s safety net costs were projected to be over budget by $3.5 million. While the majority of safety net costs are paid by county tax dollars, the state does contribute 28% and the federal government contributes 1%.

In September, the legislature moved $2,385,000 from its undesignated reserves to cover the additional safety net costs.

During the budget discussions last week, Chagnon said legislators decided to increase the $10 million to $11 million of county tax money, adding $1 million.

This will also mean an increase of $280,000 from the state and $10,000 from the federal government.

Counties’ safety net costs are expenses for programs that provide basic assistance, primarily encompassing temporary food benefits, housing/shelter, and other local support for people in need, generally after they have exceeded state and federal funds available to them.

While safety net costs were by far and away and the biggest increase, there were some minor increases required for the Sheriff’s Office. Chagnon blamed those increases on “small corrections” and not any new programs.

In terms of reducing costs, the main reduction was to overtime in the Social Services budget by $50,000.

There were a number of additional revenue increases.

For the county airport, legislators are budgeting $10,000 of rental funds from a vacant airport hanger in Jamestown as well as the airport restaurant, with hopes that one or both will be used in 2026.

The legislature is budgeting additional revenue from Off Track Betting. Chagnon said the state has given OTB a 5% tax break with the anticipation that those funds would be shared with participating municipalities, which would include Chautauqua County.

OTB revenue was originally going to be $531,000 but that amount has increased by $130,000.

The biggest increase of new revenue is a new $500,000 grant for the county District Attorney’s Office. While the state has yet to make the announcement, Chagnon said the additional $500,000 has been confirmed.

After combining all the additional changes, Chagnon said the county still needed $176,000 to meet its additional $1 million for safety net costs. That amount will be coming from the county’s undesignated reserves.

Originally Wendel had proposed $36,134,000 in its undesignated reserves account, which equals about 11.5% of the overall budget.

The county’s financial management plan calls for its reserves to be between 5 and 15%.

The legislature is expected to vote on the 2026 spending plan at its next meeting at the end of the month.

Further budget changes may be brought up during legislature committee meetings which take place next week.