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MAYVILLE - County lawmakers are once again using its reserves to cover a major shortfall in safety net costs.
During the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, officials approved a resolution that moves $2,130,000 from its unassigned fund balance to the Safety Net account.
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; and non-citizens who are eligible for temporary assistance, but who are not eligible for federal reimbursement.
The safety net costs are actually $3 million in the red, however the state will cover $840,000 and the federal government will pay $30,000.
Over the summer, the Department of Social Services had requested $2.8 million from the county's reserves be used to help cover a $4 million shortfall in safety net but withdrew the request a month later, saying the case numbers had decreased.
During the October Audit and Control Committee meeting, Blake Ihrig, the Director of Administrative Services with the county's Finance Department said since June cases have dropped but that drop has since plateaued.
Ihrig estimates that safety net costs will be between $14 million and $14.6 million for the year. In June, they were estimating safety net costs to be $15 million to $15.7 million.
Earlier in the year, Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield, said he would no longer be supporting resolutions to use reserve funds to cover shortfalls, saying other departments should have their budgets reduced.
During the October legislature meeting, Johnson requested permission to not have to vote on the resolution.
"Normally, I would vote against this, but it being this late in the year, that really wouldn’t be practical. So, I’d like to abstain if I may," he stated.
According to Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon, by rule, anyone who requests to abstain from a vote must get permission from the full legislature.
Typically abstention votes are used due to a conflict of interest. Johnson did not state any conflict of interest in his request.
Chagnon called for an audible vote to permit Johnson to abstain, which passed with at least three legislators voting no.
During the final vote, the resolution passed with 18 voting yes and one abstention.