In Chautauqua County, there are 27 towns, 13 villages, two cities and the one county. There’s also 18 school districts, one of which tuitions its middle and high school students to another district.

The website seethroughny.net lists the pay of all local, county, state and school employees, although Chautauqua County’s information was incomplete, with the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney missing. In order to get that information The Post-Journal/OBSERVER filed a Freedom Of Information Request to get the pay those missing from the seethroughny.net website.

TOWNS/VILLAGES

Of the 27 towns, not a single employee earned over $100,000 in 2022. The highest town employee worked for Ellicott and made $96,544 and was an employee of the police department.

The city of Jamestown has more employees who earned over $100,000 of any municipality in Chautauqua County with 57, more than twice the number of Chautauqua County.

Of the 13 villages, two – Bemus Point and Panama — did not have any data on the seethroughny.net website. Of the remaining 11, there was only one — Fredonia — that had an employee who made over $100,000. That person earned $133,196 and worked for the police department.

CITIES

Both cities had multiple staff members earning over $100,000. Dunkirk had 15 while Jamestown had 57.

In Dunkirk, 14 of the 15 employees were listed as “police and fire,” with the top earner getting $128,396. The remaining employee appears to be a member of the wastewater department.

In Jamestown, all 57 employees that earned over $100,000 in 2022 were listed as “police and fire.” The top earner received $186,711.

COUNTY

Chautauqua County had 21 people who earned more than $100,000 in 2022 with about half of them employed as law enforcement.

The top earner of the county was the district attorney at $200,364. That pay is nearly identical for neighboring counties. In Cattaraugus, Erie, Niagara and Allegany counties, the district attorneys there all earn between $200,000-$215,000.

There were 10 people employed by the Sheriff’s Office who earned over $100,000 in 2022. The sheriff himself made less than that, earning $94,0043.

There were 10 other employees who topped $100,000. They were listed on the seethroughny.net website as “general employees” although some are department heads and others are attorneys. Like the sheriff, the county executive did not earn as much as some people he oversees. The executive’s pay for 2022 was listed at $99,012.

SCHOOLS

Every school had at least one employee who earned over $100,000 and that was always the superintendent. Ripley, which has its students in 7-12 grade attend Chautauqua Lake, only had one employee who made over $100,000. Every other district had at least two.

Unlike the cities, the Dunkirk City School District had more individuals who earned over $100,000 than the Jamestown Public School District. Dunkirk was the tops in the county with 43 employees who earned over $100,000, while Jamestown had 35.

The website does not distinguish between administrators and educators, listing everyone as “NYSTRS — Educator.” Dunkirk’s top earner, who is the superintendent, got $181,072. The second highest pay is $145,593.

In Jamestown, the top earner, who is the superintendent, got $186,711. The second highest employee earned $153,049.

The third highest school district was Fredonia, which had 28 employees who earned over $100,000. The top earner, who is the superintendent, received $160,405. The second highest earner received $133,290.

Next was Cassadaga Valley School District, with 25 employees who earned over $100,000. The top earner, who is the superintendent, received $167,255. The second highest earner received $118,932.

Panama Central School was the fifth highest school district, with 12 employees who earned over $100,000. The top earner, who is the superintendent, received $139,027. The second highest district earner received $121,931.

The remaining 12 school districts all had less than 10 individuals who earned over $100,000. Chautauqua Lake had nine, with the top earner receiving $147,902. Sherman had six, with the top earner receiving $120,977. Clymer, Falconer, Silver Creek, and Southwestern each had five employees who earned over $100,000.

Southwestern’s top earner, who was the superintendent, received $195,017. In Falconer, the superintendent received $187,916. These are the two highest paid school employees, topping both Jamestown and Dunkirk.

In Silver Creek, the superintendent earned $157,931, while in Clymer, the superintendent earned $128,413.

Westfield had four employees who earned over $100,000, with the top earner getting $134,379.

Frewsburg had three employees who earned over $100,000, with the top earner getting $158,828.

Bemus Point, Brocton, and Forestville had two employees who earned over $100,000. The top pay was as follows: Bemus Point: $137,918, Brocton: $136,317, and Forestville: $145,048.

Ripley’s sole employee who earned over $100,000 was the superintendent and received $147,518.

COMPARISON

Mixing schools, towns, villages, cities, and Chautauqua County, the organizations who had the highest to the lowest number of earners over $100,000 in 2022 is as follows:

1 — City of Jamestown, 57

2 — Dunkirk City School District, 43

3 — Jamestown Public School District, 35

4 — Fredonia Central School District, 28

5 — Cassadaga Valley Central School District, 25

6 — Chautauqua County, 21

7 — City of Dunkirk, 15

8 — Panama Central School District, 12

9 — Chautauqua Lake Central School District, 9

10 — Sherman Central School District, 6

11 — (tie) Clymer, Falconer, Silver Creek and Southwestern school districts, 5

12 — Westfield Academy and Central School District, 4

13 — Frewsburg Central School District, 3

14 — (tie) Bemus Point, Brocton and Forestville school districts, 2

15 — (tie) Ripley Central School, village of Fredonia, 1