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County Executive PJ Wendel is proposing a 58-cent tax rate decrease and no tax levy increase in his 2027 budget.
Not increasing the levy is due, in part, to increased use of the county's surplus while the county's tax rate decrease is due, in part, to a 14% increase in the value of property in the county. It's a good position for the county to be in – because we are pretty sure when we see budget proposals from Jamestown and Dunkirk in a couple of weeks the pictures won't be nearly that pretty.
In addition, the county plans to spend an additional $100,000 on Chautauqua Lake maintenance in 2027. That's an investment that we can support, because one can argue that the county's 14% increase in property values is driven in large part by the astronomical selling prices of homes inside Chautauqua Institution. The proposal also includes more than $17 million in capital projects through the Department of Public Facilities. Additional investments include more than $70,000 in upgrades at Jamestown Community College, $310,000 for economic development and more than $700,000 in public safety improvements through the Sheriff's Office and Department of Emergency Services.
In the end, though, the success or failure of Wendel's budget proposal will hinge on the county's handling of the unfunded mandates that Wendel spent a portion of his budget address discussing. President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill shifts a portion of SNAP benefit costs from the federal government to the state and, by extension, to the county of safety net services. Safety net spending has been a topic of conversation over the past few years in part because increasing budgeted amounts haven't been enough to stave off mid-year budget requests. In 2026, that mid-year budget adjustment was withdrawn at the last minute as safety net requests finally abated, but there are still three months left in the year and what feels like a colder fall.
The budget looks good now. Will it look as good next July or August if human services costs are coming in higher than budgeted? The answer is no.
Wendel proposes using a good chunk of its surplus to bring in a budget with no tax levy increase, something that should please both legislative Republicans and Democrats who have wanted to spend down some of the county's surplus. But we note that using a chunk of the surplus to keep taxes down this year means starting next year's budget in a hole. This year's tax relief could become next year's headache unless costs come down over the next 12 months.