The tentative 2026 County Budget recently unveiled by the County Executive appears to be largely a status quo budget.

The Tentative Budget continues the routine of raising County Real Property Taxes every year by $1,700,000 or so, it keeps County government employment at about 1,200 employees, and foresees no significant improvements or efficiencies in the delivery of County services.

It is important to look at the context of this 2026 Tentative Budget.

In 2009 County Property Taxes were $54,900,000. In 2024 they were $71,500,000, up 32%. In 2025 County Property Taxes went up again by another $1,700,000 to $73,200,000 and the 2026 Budget would raise real property taxes another $1,700,000 to $75,000,000.

The 2026 Budget assumes that County government employment will continue at 1,200 employees.

At the start of 2015, immediately after the sale of the County Home in Dunkirk to a private operator, County government employment dropped from 1,200 to 1,000.

In less than ten years County government employment rose 20% to be back to a little over 1,200 employees.

What happened to the size of our County’s population during this time?

In the 2000 Census Chautauqua County had 140,000 residents. By 2020 we were down to approximately 126,000, a loss of 14,000 or about 10%. We now have fewer residents to pay for County government.

Are Medicaid costs responsible for raising County Property Taxes approximately $1,700,000 almost every year?

Surprisingly, thanks to New York State’s 2005 Medicaid “cap” on the County’s share of the Medicaid program (including most of our nursing home residents), the County’s share of Medicaid costs in 2024 was lower than in 2004, 20 years earlier.

In 2004, then County executive Mark Thomas was faced with a County share of Medicaid of $33,000,000 (the equivalent of $58,000,000 in 2025 dollars).

In 2024, the current County Executive only had $32,000,000 of Medicaid costs to budget for, $1,000,000 less than 20 years earlier. In other words, there was deflation, rather than inflation, in the County’s share of Medicaid costs.

What about the history of the County’s “slush fund” or Unappropriated Fund Balance? It can accurately be called a “slush fund” because the County Executive and Legislature can literally do anything with that money they desire.

Under County Executive Greg Edwards the “slush fund” in 2008 was $13,500,000.

Under County Executive Vince Horrigan the “slush fund” in 2013 was only $12,600,000.

After the sale of the County Home in Dunkirk to a private operator in 2014 for $16,000,000, the “slush fund” grew in 2015 to $19,900,000,

In 2025, the “slush fund” or Unappropriated Fund Balance has ballooned to approximately $37,000,000 of taxpayer dollars.

The County’s Financial Policy for many years wisely calls for a minimum Unappropriated Fund Balance of 5% of the County’s now $300,000,000 budget or $15,000,000. The current “slush fund” at $37,000,000 is $22,000,000 more than it needs to be.

It would be prudent to use just $2,000,000 of the $37,000,000 “slush fund” to keep the 2026 County Property Taxes at the 2025 level. Freezing County Real Property Taxes at the 2025 level should be a goal of County government, instead of projecting annual tax increases of $1,700,000 or more every year through 2030.

What about the effect of 2% or 3% inflation on the County Budget?

The County’s sales tax of 8% provides a large share of the County’s revenues. The sales tax revenues tend to go up at least at the rate of inflation.

The county’s sales tax was $54,000,000 in 2024 and is projected to be $57,900,000 in 2026, up $3,900,000 or 7.2% over just 2 years, more than the rate of inflation.

It is now up to the County Legislature to decide on a final County Budget for 2026 and whether to use a relatively small percentage of the $37,000,000 “slush fund” to reduce county property taxes.

Fred Larson is a Chautauqua County Legislator who served as Chautauqua County Attorney from 1998 to 2005. Larson is also a retired Jamestown City Court judge.