Chautauqua County’s Safety Net program is once again running in the red and needs millions of dollars to cover its shortfall.

One way or another the county will have to come up with the funds for the program, but at least one county official doesn’t want its reserves used to make up the difference.

During the June Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, lawmakers delayed a vote on a resolution that would have spent $2.8 million of its unobligated reserve funds to cover the deficit.

According to the county’s website, Safety Net Assistance is for individuals who are not eligible for other assistance programs. It is a state- and local-funded program for: Single adults; childless couples; children living with a caretaker other than a parent; families of persons abusing drugs or alcohol; families of persons refusing drug alcohol screening, assessment, or treatment; people who have exceeded the 60-month limit on assistance; non-citizens who are eligible for temporary assistance, but who are not eligible for federal reimbursement.

Blake Ihrig, the Director of Administrative Services with the county’s Finance Department, and Carmelo Hernandez, Commissioner of Mental Hygiene Social Services, met with a couple of different legislature committees in June to discuss the Safety Net Program.

In February, the Safety Net program closed 2025 with a $2 million deficit. The department was able to find $700,000 in its budget and used $1.3 million from county reserves to cover the difference.

At that time, Ihrig said he suspected he would be returning to the county due to Safety Net shortfalls in this year’s budget.

According to Ihrig, in 2026, the county budgeted $11 million for Safety Net, up $1 million from the year before.

“We’ve seen a steady number of cases per month, really the last 16 months, to project out and forecast the remaining six months of the year,” Ihrig said.

According to Ihrig’s calculations, they need another $4 million total. Of that amount, $1.12 million will come from the state and $40,000 will come from the federal government.

That leaves the county responsible to cover the remaining $2,840,000, which Ihrig requested come from the county’s reserves.

The committee discussed the topic for more than 40 minutes.

Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield, didn’t argue with Ihrig’s request, but said he doesn’t feel the money should come from reserves; instead other departments should have their budgets adjusted. “This is a garden-variety budgeting level. The case to be made for it coming out of the (reserve) fund to me needs to come from the entire county budget,” he said.

Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Ellington, said when the 2026 budget was being prepared, there was a debate if more money should be provided to the Safety Net program. There were questions if the increase in Safety Net was temporary or long-term. “Through time it’s been proven that this isn’t a (temporary) bump,” he said.

Pavlock wants to see more budgeted for Safety Net. “It isn’t a proper thing to keep using fund balance,” he said.

For now, Pavlock said he’s OK with using fund balance to cover the shortfall, since the legislature didn’t provide enough funds for the program in 2026.

But Johnson disagreed. “At the end of the day, a rainy day fund is a rainy day fund,” he said.

County Executive PJ Wendel was in attendance at the Audit and Control Committee meeting and complained about the program. “This is not an operating task of the county. … Safety Net is the safety net. This is one of the governor’s ‘generous’ Social Service benefits that taxpayers in this county pay 71% or $71 of every $100 to individuals who are in many cases are able bodied and just not working,” he said.

Wendel said many county leaders across the state disagree how the Safety Net program is funded. “The hope is that people will get off the system. What we’re seeing is it’s not. It’s perpetuating because there is no incentive to get off of Safety Net,” he said.

Wendel said he’s spoken to manufacturing leaders in the county who say that many times people on Safety Net will schedule an interview because they’re required to look for a job, but in the end they will skip the interview so they can continue to receive Safety Net benefits.

Wendel blames the state. “This is a cost that has encumbered this county for the last seven years that I’ve been in office and has no sign of stopping,” he said.

During the full legislature’s vote, Johnson once again reiterated his opposition to using county fund balance to cover the deficit and requested the resolution be sent back to committee.

The legislature agreed and will discuss it again during its July meetings.