Photo by Eric Zavinski County Executive George Borrello explained the future need for funding maintenance of Chautauqua Lake. He described recent county funding as "not sustainable" and called on members of the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency to focus on a solution to fund in-lake treatments locally.

MAYVILLE — County Executive George Borrello spoke to members of the Chautauqua Lake Protection and Rehabilitation Agency, a committee tasked with the possible formation of a taxing district for Chautauqua Lake, and told them to focus on in-lake needs.

“If we truly want to continue what we started, we need a consistent source of funding,” Borrello said.

Members convened Wednesday for the CLPRA’s first meeting after the Memorandum of Agreement for the Chautauqua Lake Weed Management Consensus Strategy went into effect, herbicides were used to treat 400 acres of lake waters, and Burtis Bay was cleaned of plant-based debris through a collaborative, county-led effort.

Positively reacting to these recent events, Borrello described the newest urgent need to get a taxing district planned and passed by the Chautauqua County Legislature once the CLPRA’s work as a recommending body is finished. Don McCord, county director of planning and community development, also responded to echoing sentiments from two months ago that the whole county should be taxed to fund lake maintenance.

“The energy of the agency should … come back to how do we go about forming this type of contingency,” said McCord, who suggested that examples in which all county residents are taxed extra are more likely to get shot down by the legislature.

Borrello said that about $250,000 has been lost compared to last year’s state funding for lake maintenance, a large sum of which had traditionally been earned through former State Sen. Cathy Young and distributed to the Chautauqua Lake Association.

McCord estimated about $2 million from various sources in 2019 that is being used to maintain Chautauqua Lake. Some of that money includes county bed tax funding and other donated dollars Borrello said are “not sustainable” for years to come.

By taxing a flat dollar rate on two property tiers — one on the lakefront and another near shore — McCord estimated that $1,576,277 of revenue could be generated. That sum would not be a replacement for the $2 million already estimated to be put aside for lake maintenance, but it wouldn’t be a direct addition, making for more than $3.5 million, either.

He explained that some residents may not donate to lake nonprofits like usual if this goes into effect, and on the other hand, Borrello noted that others who don’t usually donate for lake maintenance would be made to contribute through a potential taxing district.

“This is a way to even the playing field,” Borrello said.

Ellicott Town Supervisor Patrick McLaughlin brought up the fairness of who pays for care of the lake, and others gave remarks about maintenance of the watershed. Borrello and McCord answered both concerns.

The county executive said the main question should be one of effectiveness over fairness. He said that while funding the lake is a tough issue, Borrello commented that he’d rather an imperfect solution be approved than get shot down if a CLPRA suggestion called for taxing the county too widely.

A lack of countywide funding would also mean a future protection and rehabilitation district board would likely direct funding to in-lake issues more than watershed issues if lakefront property owners end up providing the majority of tax dollars.

McCord drew parallels to Findley Lake’s homeowners’ association and said that a possible lake district could incorporate existing property owners around Chautauqua Lake into a group that pays a fee per parcel. After talking to some property owners about the parcel idea, McCord reported how he’s had mostly positive responses to it.

“I would hate to see us lose that momentum,” said Borrello, who emphasized CLPRA members’ obligation to create a recommendation that is likely to succeed in funding the lake long-term.

The next meeting of the CLPRA will feature a discussion of hypothetical budgets for a lake taxing district.