County lawmakers pass budget by 10-9 vote
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MAYVILLE - By the thinnest of margins, the Chautauqua County Legislature has approved its budget for 2027.
The budget was adopted by a 10-9 vote, with all seven Democrats voting against it, along with two Republicans - Dalton Anthony of Frewsburg and Fred Johnson of Westfield.
The adopted $330 million budget has a levy, the amount raised by taxes, of $76.8 million, which is an increase of $1.8 million from 2026. The 2.47% increase is below the state's mandated property tax cap.
The adopted budget will have a full value property tax rate of $5.56 per $1,000 assessed valuation, which is 71 cents lower than the current budget.
The adopted budget uses $8.8 million of the county's unobligated reserve fund, which has been estimated to be between $30 million to $35 million.
Originally County Executive PJ Wendel proposed a budget with no increase in the levy. He also had proposed using $11.5 million of the county's unobligated reserves and had a proposed tax rate of $5.32 per $1,000 assessed valuation. Had that budget been adopted, it would have been the lowest property tax rate in the county since 1975.
During the discussion before the vote Wednesday, Anthony said although he voted for increasing the levy and using less reserves in committee, he now feels the legislature should just adopt Wendel's budget.
"We have been warned at some point a tax increase may be unavoidable. And that is why I believe we should make every reasonable effort to give our residents one more year of relief while we have the opportunity to do so responsibly," he said.
Johnson, who did vote against the budget in committee, said more cuts should have been made.
"I don't think we have been aggressive enough on cutting spending. And when I say 'we,' I mean all of us," he said.
Yet neither Anthony or Johnson appeared to want to revisit budget discussions and make further changes in committee.
Legislator Bob Bankoski, D-Dunkirk, tried to table the budget vote and send it back to committee for further review. Both Anthony and Dalton, along with the other 10 Republican legislators voted against that.
Bankoski, who has been calling for the legislature to use some of its reserves to lower property taxes for the last few years, said this budget failed to do that.
"When he (Wendel) said he was going to put money back in our pocket, the way I look at it is you’re either going to lower the tax levy and that puts money back in my pocket, or you’re going to do some type of program or do something that’s going to give me some money. None of those things had happened," he said.
After the legislature meeting, Wendel said he was pleased that the budget has been adopted, even though the tax rate reduction is less than he originally proposed.
"You're still looking at a 71 cent tax rate reduction. ... The city of Jamestown has increased taxes, the city of Dunkirk has for the third year in a row, and we're still holding it short," he said.
In regards to the budget, Wendel noted that retirement costs are $1.9 million, road salt is up $1.1 million, fuel is up $500,000, and utilities are up $500,000.
"That's a $3 million increase right there and those things are out of our control," he said.
Wendel said county leaders across the state are concerned about the state passing along expenses to counties.
"She (Gov. Kathy Hochul) has got to stop these unfunded mandates. It's crippling. This isn't just us. Bipartisan county executives across the state are pushing back, saying you've got to stop," he said.