OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon The Audit and Control Committee is pictured with County Executive PJ Wendel.
MAYVILLE — The Chautauqua County Legislature has proposed an additional $571,000 of changes to County Executive Wendel’s proposed budget for 2023. To cover the costs, they’re looking to hold off on Jamestown Community College’s proposed soccer field for now, but say they are committed to doing something in the future.
In September, Wendel proposed a $207,364,119 budget for 2023. Of that amount, $69,681,835 is the levy, the amount collected through local taxes. His budget proposal calls for a property tax rate of $7.80 per $1,000 assessed value, which is 30 cents lower than the current $8.10 property tax rate.
Last week, the County Legislature reviewed the budget through its committees. By Friday, there were still a number of unanswered questions, so the Audit and Control Committee held a special meeting Thursday to continue budget review and to talk to Wendel about the budget.
At Thursday’s meeting, there were a number of minor changes noted. According to committee members, they recently learned that the cost of salt would be up this winter, higher than originally anticipated. They learned that the county’s portion required for retirement would be increasing. They wanted to add $25,000 to the Department of Soil and Water so they could add staff to write grants.
One revenue decrease was for the County Clerk’s Office for Department of Motor Vehicle fees. The county only gets money from vehicle registrations done in person, not those done online.
“More people are doing things electronically,” said Finance Director Kitty Crow.
She recommended reducing the expected revenue by $150,000 and said the county needs to prepare for continued reduced DMV reviews in the years to come.
Committee members agreed.
“If you can do it (register) at home on your computer, why wouldn’t you,” said Legislator David Wilfong, R-Jamestown.
With the budget changes, committee members were told it would push the county budget above the state tax cap of 2%, something lawmakers were hesitant on doing. It would also push the property tax rate at $7.87 per $1,000 assessed valuation, 7 cents higher than Wendel proposed.
Legislator Terry Niebel, R-Sheridan, suggested cutting the proposed soccer field, which was to cost the county $941,000. JCC would still need money from its own budget and from the state to complete the project, which is expected to cost $4 million, but wanted the county’s approval as the first step.
“I’ve got trouble funding the JCC athletic field for $950,000 when we’ve just increased this budget by $570,000. I think we need to still explore other options like Diethrick Park. … I’m not sure why they can’t use Fredonia State. Fredonia State has a soccer stadium with stands and everything. It’s built for soccer,” Niebel said.
Wendel said JCC has reached out to SUNY Fredonia, Jamestown High School and other places in the county, but none works.
“They had to travel to Bolliver-Richburg (70 miles away) for a home soccer game,” he said. “It’s not a luxury. JCC soccer teams are practicing from 9 to 11 o’clock at night because that’s when they can get on Jamestown High School or other fields nearby.”
Wendel said JCC has a grass soccer field, but it quickly becomes unusable when it rains hard. They’re looking to install an AstroTurf field, something even public schools have.
“Jamestown High School is going on 30 years now they’ve had a turf field,” he said.
Legislator Tom Harmon, R-Silver Creek, asked Wendel if there’s been talk about expanding Diethrick Park, where the Jamestown Tarp Skunks play.
Wendel said that is a possibility.
“That’s an ongoing discussion that’s been resurrected. Having said that, …. there is an investor who has ties to Chautauqua County who is looking for ways to invest and their question was, ‘what is the local populous doing?'” he said.
Wendel said if the county were to commit to funding a project, whether at Diethrick Park or elsewhere, it could kick off a major project for the college.
Legislature Chairman Pierre Chagnon said he likes the idea of expanding Diethrick Park more than doing a $4 million stand alone soccer field.
Wendel said the problem with Diethrick Park is the cost.
“Those numbers have been talked about but it’s a much, much larger number,” he said.
But Chagnon responded,
“It’s a much larger opportunity for utilizing an underutilized facility.”
Wilfong agreed.
“It’s one of the most expensive parks we have in the city of Jamestown,” he said.
The soccer field was to be paid for using county reserves. Niebel proposed using $571,000 from the reserves to pay for the increases in the budget and leaving the remaining $370,000 in the reserves.
County Attorney Stephen Abdella said if legislators want, they can keep the remaining funds in the reserves, but set it aside to start putting money away for athletic field purposes.
He said the legislature also has the option to borrow money for JCC capital projects if they wish to do so.
Chagnon said the county could also add to the $370,000 in some reserve funds to show JCC the county is committed to expanding athletics, but not committed to a $4 million soccer field.
All committee members agreed to that concept and authorized removing the JCC soccer field from next year’s budget and using that money to pay for the additional expenses. They also agreed to set up a capital project account using their reserve funds after JCC came back to the county with options for Diethrick Park.
Budget Director Kathleen Dennison said because the JCC funds were coming from the capital reserves, which now the changes are coming from, it will have no impact on the tax rate. The new tax rate is still $7.80 per $1,000 assessed valuation, 30 cents lower than this current year. The budget also does not exceed the state’s 2% tax cap.
With the changes made, legislators are expected to review them again next week in committee meetings, and vote on the budget at its full meeting on Oct. 26.
.