Mark Geise is the Chief Executive Officer for the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency and the Deputy County Executive for Economic Development.

The pay of the chief executive officer of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency will be going up significantly.

Earlier this year, the county IDA Board of Directors voted to increase the pay of Mark Geise from $79,301 in 2025 to $100,000 in 2026, a 26.1% increase.

This is only part of Geise’s pay. He also is paid by Chautauqua County, where he is the Deputy County Executive for Economic Development. That money comes from the county.

After a Freedom Of Information Request was filed with the county, it was revealed that as deputy county executive, Geise is being paid $117,699 for 2025.

Chautauqua County Director of Finance Kitty Crow said he will be getting a 3% increase in 2026 for his role as deputy county executive.

“His income from the IDA is paid directly from the IDA,” Crow added in an email.

Combining Geise’s pay from the IDA and his pay from the county, it appears he will be earning around $221,000 in 2026.

During the meeting where the IDA board decided to raise its CEO’s pay, Board Chairman Gary Henry stated that he was the one lobbying for the increase.

“As I took on the role of chairman a couple of years ago, I started looking around with other IDAs, I realized the pay scale for the Chautauqua County IDA is considerably less than other comparable sized IDAs,” he said.

Henry introduced the resolution that would not only increase the pay to $100,000 this year, but continue with 3.5% pay increases annually for the following three years.

In 2029, the county IDA will be paying its CEO $110,871. “It will still be on the low end actually, but it will at least be comparable to some of the others,” Henry said.

Henry also said the pay rate would be for Geise, should he agree to his contract, or “whoever has the role.”

He added that he believes Geise is “doing a great job.”

Between the two positions, Geise will be making well more than County Executive PJ Wendel.

In 2024, the legislature scheduled the Office of County Executive to receive a $16,210 raise beginning Jan. 1, 2026. In 2024, Wendel earned $115,765. He likely got a raise in 2025, as his pay is tied to the annual Consumer Price Index. The $16,210 increase in 2026 is an addition to his annual CPI raise.

That $16,210 raise was proposed by a bi-partisan Salary Commission and authorized by the county legislature in February, 2024.

According to seethroughny.net, the top earner in Chautauqua County in 2025 was Dr. Michael Faulk, the county’s chief medical officer, who was scheduled to earn $231,202. It was the only pay that topped $200,000. The Chautauqua County District Attorney is not listed on that website. A FOIL back in 2022 showed Jason Schmidt was earning $200,364.