2020 was a year like no other.

That was true for county government as well.

With the pandemic still in effect, Chautauqua County Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon says COVID-19 will be the county’s main focus for this year, although there are some other topics he’s hoping to address as well.

In a phone interview, Chagnon discussed some of the things he would like to see the legislature accomplish in 2021.

“In these unprecedented times the main goals are sustaining the critical services provided to the residents and visitors to Chautauqua County and protecting the health and safety of county residents and employees while protecting and preserving to the greatest extent possible the financial integrity of the county. That’s a tall order in itself, but beyond that I also have a few smaller goals for 2021,” he said.

His first goal is budget achievement. “If our revenue is not meeting our budget, we have to reduce expenses,” he said.

That was the case in 2020, where most departments took a 20% reduction. A lot of the budget issues will depend on what the state provides and if the Biden administration agrees to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s request for $19 billion in aid. Cuomo has said publicly that if the federal government does not help New York financially, he will need to both cut expenses and raise taxes.

Secondly, Chagnon wants the county to hire a safety coordinator and energize the safety culture throughout county operations. “A safety coordinator would make sure each of our departments and work sites has the proper safety procedure, equipment, and training, to do job safely,” he said.

In 2020, a private contractor was killed while at the county landfill in Ellery. Last winter, a snowplow driver hit a vehicle, killing the driver.

Chagnon noted a safety coordinator would be the lead investigator in those type of situations, as well as when there’s a serious injury.

A third goal of Chagnon is the implementation of the assigned counsel administration function into the public defender function.

“When staff has a conflict of interest, they then go outside and hire an assigned council,” explained Chagnon. “Because of the grant we received from New York state two years ago, they want to see that assigned council improved. We will search for assigned council administrator.”

Chagnon noted that could possibly be a local law firm. Unlike the district attorney’s office, the county legislature directly oversees the public defender’s office.

A fourth goal for Chagnon is to initiate an internal audit.

“We had money in 2020 budget to contract with independent auditing firm of several of our operations to make sure we were properly seeking the proper reimbursement for our expenses …. Then COVID hit and we had to take (the money) out,” he said.

Much of the county budget relies on reimbursement from the state and federal governments. In the public health, mental health and social services departments, for example, the county will pay the bills the departments generate. Afterward, the county submits those receipts to other levels of government. Chagnon wants to make sure they are getting the most of their reimbursements as possible.

Right now, Chagnon said they don’t have money in the budget for 2021, but he is hopeful that should Cuomo’s request for $19 billion from the federal government go through, they will be able to revisit this. However, if they don’t get the funds then Chagnon said he will prioritize this in 2022.

A fifth goal for Chagnon is for the legislature to develop a deeper understanding of solar projects.

The biggest solar project proposed in the county is the 270 megawatt large scale solar and storage project with a 20 megawatt battery storage component. For months, the legislature has heard requests from residents who both support and oppose the project. While the legislature does not have the final authority on any type of tax breaks, County Legislator Mark Odell has been vocal, wanting to see the county Industrial Development Agency deny tax breaks on these larger projects.

Chagnon would like to see the legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee, which Odell is the chairman, hold workshops to discuss solar projects, to review the safety and impact they can have on the county.

“We were told at the end of last year they (Ripley solar projects) were about a year away from requesting a PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement),” said Chagnon. “We want to be prepared.”

The sixth and final goal Chagnon has for 2021 is the successful resolution to long delinquent property taxes.

In 2020, due to the coronavirus, Chautauqua County couldn’t hold a tax auction for delinquent properties which owed 2018 taxes. Now the legislature will need to decide what to do, not only with 2018 delinquent properties but also 2019 delinquent properties.

“Not having been able to have auction last year hurt our budget,” said Chagnon.

He noted that when property taxes fall behind, the county pays the property taxes owed to towns and cities. “We’ve paid out the money we haven’t received. That’s increasing liability to the county,” he said.

Looking back on 2020, Chagnon noted they went through a number of challenges, including switching to virtual meetings to having to make significant cuts to all departments. It was Chagnon’s first year as chairman and he has been selected by his fellow legislators to return this year as well.

“Assuming the role as chairman was pretty comfortable to me,” he said. “I could serve as an ally and assist the county executive. It was an enjoyable experience.”