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After weeks of debate and discussion, points and counterpoints, the Chautauqua County Legislature has decided that the number one economic development goal for county government is sustainable disposable income growth.
It sounds like a good goal. No one is against the idea of increasing disposable income for county residents. Certainly no one would say they are against such a goal in an election year.
The problem is few know what the heck the legislature means with this goal. Wouldn't it be simpler to use household income growth as the goal rather than disposable income growth? Household income is a regularly tracked economic indicator. Disposable income is trickier to discern. And who decides what is "sustainable?" We can have debates for the next year figuring out exactly what it is legislators passed last week. And, if increasing disposable income is only reflected in higher- or middle-income families through raises in already existing jobs or in bringing in jobs only certain people are qualified to have, then our chosen economic development isn't helping the people who need the help the most.
To be frank, "job creation" isn't the greatest of goals either. It's possible to increase jobs by bringing in low-wage, part-time jobs that meet the "job creation" goal without doing things like decreasing poverty and child homelessness, two pressing issues in Chautauqua County's economy. The hollowing out of our economy comes with the loss of higher-wage, full-time jobs. We want to see more jobs coming into Chautauqua County, but not all jobs are created equal.
It's one reason why this two-month sideshow of talking about whether or not job creation or disposable income should be our economic development focus is disappointing. Even if the county is successful it doesn't necessarily mean the county is improving its economy.
Consider the county's poverty rate. Poverty rates have declined from 19.4% percent in 2014 to 17.4% in 2024. It was something County Executive PJ Wendel made note of earlier this year when talking about the county's economic successes. It sounds great until you realize that other counties made similar gains – which means we didn't really gain much. In 2014, Chautauqua County’s poverty rate of 19.3%, according to Census Bureau statistics, was the fourth-highest in New York state behind Oswego County, Kings County and Bronx County. In 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Bank, the county’s poverty rate was 17.4% – yet the county’s poverty rate only improved from fourth-highest in the state to sixth-highest in the state behind Bronx County, Cattaraugus County, Kings County, Broome County and Franklin County. The county improved, but not as much as one would think.
And therein lies the rub in this whole discussion of the county's top economic development goal. During his 2026 State of the County, Wendel noted improvements in the poverty rate, the county’s gross domestic product increase of 29% over the past five years, a 25% increase in median household income over a five year period and the county’s ranking of eighth among counties for year-over-year per capita income growth.
Despite all of those seemingly positive indicators, still Chautauqua County has a high poverty rate and a shockingly high percentage of homeless who are children under the age of 18. That number is 38.1%, by the way. The county has numbers that show a rising tide. But other numbers show that the county's rising tide isn't lifting all boats.
In our view the county's focus on sustainable disposable income growth doesn't do much for those who are being left behind amidst the county's self-described economic growth.