Increasing Chautauqua County’s sales tax is County Executive Vince Horrigan’s short-term answer to closing the county’s budget deficit.

A closer reading of the county’s Deficit Reduction Commission’s work, however, reveals several things the county should consider even if the sales tax is increased.

We have noted, for example, the criminal justice benefits of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council in reducing the jail population. Deficit Reduction Commission members task the recently re-formed council with finding $1.5 million a year in local share savings for the jail through sentencing people to state prison rather than local jail time, creating transitional housing for selected inmates, more active case management through alternatives to incarceration, mandating video arraignments, booking fees for those in the jail or charging co-pays for prisoners requesting medical care. All are ideas worth considering.

Another suggestion is reducing health care costs by increasing the employee share of health insurance to 25 percent from the current 11-15 percent. Phasing in such changes over two years could save the county $1.7 million. Other insurance-related considerations discussed were increasing the use of high-deductible plans, mandating that, at age 65, Medicare supplement plans be required; spousal surcharges if coverage is available elsewhere; increasing the opt-out incentive; reviewing plan options for pre-age 65 retirees and exploring the use of narrow network plans. Again, each and every one of these options should be discussed publicly.

With the airport in Jamestown still struggling to attain profitability, we agree with the Deficit Reduction Commission’s recommendation to re-examine the 2011 Airport Task Force’s final report, particularly with an eye to consider privatizing the airports or finding a lease operator while ending any county subsidy of airport costs. Commission members also recommend trying to increase the amount of funding generated by the county landfill methane to electric generator, explore opportunities to increase landfill revenues by reviewing the amount and type of waste coming to the landfill, and explore the sale or lease of the landfill and energy plant to a private sector operator.

Most interesting, however, was a paragraph recommending the county outsource all non-mandated government services to other providers, with services mentioned including mental health, substance abuse and the Office for the Aging as departments that may be better served by nonprofit or other private sector organizations.

It is good to see the Deficit Reduction Commission was willing to tackle tough issues and suggest the county look at options that won’t be popular. Those unpopular options may be necessary, however, and they may need to happen before even commission members thought. State Sen. Catharine Young’s proposal to link the county’s recently approved sales tax increase to a guaranteed decrease in property taxes is interesting and may make the increase palatable to state lawmakers who have been loathe to approve any sort of tax increase in recent years. It still doesn’t provide an assurance the county’s sales tax will increase in time for the 2016 budget. That uncertainty is alarming given the commission pegs operating deficits for 2017 and 2018 are $6,596,331 and $7,714,131, respectively.

County officials can begin work on cost-saving ideas now regardless of the sales tax increase. If there is one thing we know for certain, it is that the cost of government will continue escalating. We might as well begin the hard work of containing those costs now.