It was no surprise that the Chautauqua County Legislature approved a $20,000 allocation from the county’s 3% occupancy tax fund to support the Chautauqua Lake Pops by the Shore series in Mayville.

The proposal had been approved a month earlier, with only Legislator Jay Gould of the opinion that the Chautauqua Lake Pops was actually the old Bemus Bay Pops simply moving its program from one Chautauqua Lake beach to another. Gould reiterated his argument in July and voted against the Chautauqua Lake Pops allocation because the concert series had already received bed tax money four times while it was housed in Bemus Point. Legislators and county officials felt the organizations — despite similar programming, having a similar board and the same man behind both programs — were two different organizations.

What makes little sense is two legislature committees denying a 3% occupancy tax resolution for the Grape Discovery Center in Westfield not on the basis of the center’s application, but solely on the same 2011 policy limiting organizations to three bed tax grants that the legislature disregarded in the case of the Chautauqua Lake Pops. In the case of the Grape Discovery Center, rules are rules.

This brings up an interesting situation. What would happen if the Grape Discovery Center changed its name and moved from Westfield to Barcelona? What if it closed its current building and moved into one of the wineries in the north county? Would it then be eligible for a new round of bed tax funding? Would center officials have a legitimate gripe with the county if funding were denied?

In fact, one could argue that the Grape Discovery Center, with proper funding, could more Chautauqua County businesses over a larger area than does the Chautauqua Lake Pops re-starting its series in Mayville. Drawing visitors to wineries and vineyards throughout an entire region has more benefit than drawing visitors to a concert series in an admittedly beautiful village.

If the county is going to break its own rules, it should at least do so in ways that benefit the most county residents possible.