Budget Hearings Day 2 Part 1 (Public Facilities and Audit & Control Committees) 10/06/26

Chautauqua County’s Public Facilities and Audit & Control Committees held Day 2 of the 2027 budget hearings on October 6, 2026. Departments presented operating budgets amid a countywide shortfall discussed as approximately $12 million. Procurement- and spending-related items included a $20,000, in-house concrete apron project at the courthouse; a courthouse façade maintenance project to be done in-house after a contractor quoted $625,000 for work on two buildings; and a budgeted replacement core drill for engineering. CHQ Transit reported signing a contract with an unnamed route-planning firm, with a kickoff meeting scheduled. The landfill described a newly signed 10-year wastewater-treatment agreement with the BPU and the need to purchase a second tanker trailer from available capital-account funds to support leachate hauling. Staff also proposed $2-per-ton increases across several commercial waste-fee categories and said a possible third household hazardous-waste event would depend on costs and participation.

The committees discussed salt procurement after the state contract price rose from about $69.40 to $97.40 per ton, with additional, fluctuating fuel-delivery charges. Rather than settle an amendment during the discussion, members asked staff to recalculate the snow-removal budget using 32,000 tons as the planning quantity and report back. The transcript records motions to add $3,200 in projected Jamestown Airport lease revenue and $3,200 to Parks’ operating-supplies account (4110); the Parks motion was followed by a call for votes in favor. Transit also reported a $652,000 decrease in its local share, attributed largely to higher state and federal funding. No final salt-budget adjustment or landfill fee vote is recorded in the transcript.