The unpaid tax burden of Chautauqua County’s cities is a big reason county officials are discussing municipal consolidation.

County Executive PJ Wendel visited the Dunkirk Common Council this week to offer remarks about consolidation, similar to what he did earlier in the month at a town of Pomfret meeting. Wendel said, “By statute, the county is responsible for all unpaid taxes for towns and villages. We chose by resolution to pay unpaid taxes for the cities.”

Wendel continued, “In the city of Jamestown it is $2.498 million for 2024. For the city of Dunkirk it was $1.5 million.”

In Dunkirk, the unpaid tax burden will be even worse for 2025 — that’s the year the city socked its residents with an 84% tax hike. Wendel stated that “in the city of Dunkirk from 2024 to 2025, there was an increase of 120 parcels for unpaid taxes. So it’s a concern (for) the county going forward.”

Wendel didn’t let the village of Fredonia, the county’s third-largest municipality, go unnoticed during his remarks in Dunkirk

“The city of Dunkirk, we know where you’re standing financially — ironically, Fredonia has a tax rate of $61.25 per $1,000 (of assessed property). I believe that is one of,if not the, highest tax rates in the state of New York,” he said. “That’s a concern, because again, we’re required to pay those unpaid taxes.”

That would mean Chautauqua County would have to pay about $6,100 to settle an unpaid tax bill on a Fredonia home assessed at $100,000, he said. Fredonia raised its taxes 54% in 2025.