The suggestion by Don Emhardt, Chautauqua town supervisor, to institute boat fees for those who use Chautauqua Lake should be a topic of discussion for towns and villages surrounding Chautauqua Lake as well as by county officials.

We do, however, reiterate that a firm lake budget should be created before any new taxes or fees are approved. It is only when a yearly budget is created that we can know how much money needs to be raised. One of the most interesting things Emhardt said during the recent Chautauqua Town Board meeting is that the Chautauqua Lake Watershed and Management Alliance has about $3 million in funding requests but $650,000 to spend in 2023. That’s a key piece of information, but in we don’t yet know how much of the $3 million that has been requested is really needed. A true budget that is publicly available for review each year needs to be created.

Boat fees aren’t a new idea. Lake George — a lake to which Chautauqua Lake is often compared — has a boat fee as do hundreds of other lakes around the country. Emhardt has estimated that boat registration fees of roughly $50 a boat could raise as much as $750,000 a year. If the county does go that route, however, it makes sense to handle the boat fees like snowmobile registrations and direct a portion of the funding to other county lakes like Findley or Cassadaga that could also use the money.

There would be a long road before boat fees became a reality, including a required approval by the state Legislature and approval from Gov. Kathy Hochul. While no one wants to pay more for anything, a user fee is preferable to a lake district tax or even a countywide tax or fee. It’s an idea that should be discussed publicly during the summer season when boaters flock to the region.