What does it mean to those who live here year-round that Chautauqua Institution is making changes to its programs and offerings?

Ideally, it means Chautauqua Institution is competing for your entertainment dollar by providing programs that more local residents want to attend. We know a lot of people from Chautauqua County are out attending concerts – but they tend to be out-of-town. While that has always been the case, we have a feeling Chautauqua Institution isn’t grabbing as many of those Chautauqua County entertainment dollars as it used to. That means when Canadian visitors stop coming – as institution officials say is the case this year – it really hurts the institution’s bottom line.

But there is a bigger picture beyond offerings that may tickle county residents’ buying bone that Chautauqua’s changes affect.

As we noted earlier this year, a healthy Chautauqua Institution is incredibly important to Chautauqua County’s economy. A quarter of Chautauqua County’s tax base lies around the shores of Chautauqua Lake, and that tax base is on somewhat shaky ground right now.

There are valid concerns about what the state’s changes to its Freshwater Wetlands Act could mean for property owners around the lake. Those concerns are being litigated in state Supreme Court, but the reality is regardless of the court cases it will be up to the state DEC to strike a balance with lakefront property owners and lake management organizations to make sure lakefront property values are protected. If lakefront property owners can’t get into the lake because it is further overrun with invasive weeds, those property owners will move on to lakes without weed problems.

Chautauqua Institution is the second important domino when it comes to our lake-driven economy. Homes in Chautauqua Institution are among often some of the most expensive properties in the county. What happens inside the institution’s gates, then, doesn’t just create ripples outside its gates – it creates tidal waves. Fewer people inside Chautauqua means fewer people from Chautauqua venturing outside the gates to local restaurants and shops as well as slowed growth of the property values that provide the tax revenue that pays for vital county services like emergency services fly cars and safety net spending that puts a roof over the heads of the homeless.

Chautauqua County’s viability is, in reality, tied to the viability of Chautauqua Institution and the rest of the Chautauqua Lake economy. That’s why the rumbling of discontent from a growing number of Chautauqua Institution property owners over the past couple of years is concerning. It’s also why Kyle Keogh, interim institution president, feels like such a breath of fresh air while the institution looks for its next long-term leader. Keogh is publicly acknowledging the fact that the institution needs to tighten its belt, make its offerings more attractive to ticket buyers and respond to the concerns of property owners. That hasn’t happened in the recent past.

Most Chautauqua County residents may never set foot inside Chautauqua Institution. But it’s likely a service they use is being paid for with dollars generated in part by Chautauqua Institution and the rest of the Chautauqua Lake economy. And that’s why you should care about what’s happening inside Chautauqua.