OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon The Chautauqua County Legislature voted 14-5 to keep the sales tax rate at 8% in Chautauqua County.

MAYVILLE – It appears there will be no changes to either the sales tax rate in Chautauqua County, nor the amount going to towns, villages and cities.

On Wednesday, the 14 Republican legislators pushed through a resolution which will request the state legislature keep Chautauqua County’s sales tax at 8%, the same rate it has been since at least 2016. The county’s five Democratic legislators all voted against it.

It’s highly unlikely the state Legislature will vote against Chautauqua County having an 8% sales tax rate, as the majority of counties in New York have 8% or higher, and both of Chautauqua County’s state representatives, George Borrello in the Senate and Andrew Molitor in the Assembly, have not expressed any opposition.

In February, the county legislature tabled a resolution to seek to have the sales tax remain at 8% after a request was made by Legislator Fred Larson to share more revenue with the county’s cities, towns and villages.

That request was rejected by the Audit and Control Committee last week by a 4-1 vote, with Legislator Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown, opposed.

When sales tax is collected on a purchase in Chautauqua County, 4% goes to the state, 3% goes to the county, and 3% goes to towns, villages and cities. With the remaining 1%, 85% of it goes to the county and 15% of it goes to towns, villages and cities.

Both Jamestown and Dunkirk sent letters to the county legislature asking for more revenue to be shared with local municipalities. Jamestown’s letter was written by Mayor Kim Ecklund, a Republican, while Dunkirk’s letter was written by Councilman At Large Nick Weiser.

Both elected leaders said they are facing steep challenges when it comes to emergency services and economic development.

Vince DeJoy, who is the Director of Development of Dunkirk and previously was the Director of Development in Jamestown, said he, too, believes the cities need more sales tax revenue.

“Our cities are hurting,” he said.

He proposed having Dunkirk and Jamestown get 15% of the additional sales tax revenue and 15% be given to villages and cities.

But during the debate on the floor among legislators, the topic mainly focused on whether or not the sales tax rate should be lowered to 7.75% or remain at 8%.

Larson had introduced a resolution to have sales tax be lowered by 0.25%. His statement of why the sales tax should be lowered was published Wednesday in both The Post-Journal and the OBSERVER, before the legislature meeting took place.

Larson continued on, speaking for more than 15 minutes straight, arguing that the reason the county had a higher sales tax rate in the past was because of Medicaid, which he said was higher to the county in 2005 than it is today.

Larson also noted that in the past the county had operated the County Home, which was costing the county more than $3 million, but was sold more than a decade ago.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, stated that only five counties in New York have a lower rate than 8% and that 20 counties in the state don’t share any sales tax revenue with their towns, villages or cities.

Scudder continued, expressing concern over the state budget which hasn’t been passed yet, as well as cuts being made on the federal level, saying these could impact Chautauqua County.

Legislator Jamie Gustafson, R-Lakewood, agreed with Scudder, particularly with how the county distributes its sales tax.

“Not only does Chautauqua County share our sales tax revenues, there are very few counties that share a higher percentage of their revenues than we do. According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller based off their most recent data out of the 62 counties in New York State, there are only 11 counties in New York State that share a higher percentage of their sales tax receipts with their local municipalities,” she said.

Legislator Fred Johnson, R-Westfield, runs a winery. He said that a lot of his customers are from outside Chautauqua County and when they buy his wine, they’re paying the sales tax.

He would rather have a higher sales tax rate, since visitors are more likely to pay it.

“If we’re going to give money back to the taxpayers, I believe we should do it through property taxes,” he said, vowing to analyze the budget further this fall.

After the vote, Larson was critical of the Republican legislators for how they voted.

“Unfortunately, the Republican majority created the worst of all worlds. They refused any reduction in the 8% sales tax and they refused to share any more of that tax with our towns, villages and cities which are very hard pressed,” he said.

According to a document on the state Department of Taxation and Finance’s website, Chautauqua County’s sales tax portion was 3% from 1968 to 2005. In 2005 it went to 4.25%. In 2006, it dropped to 4%. In late 2007, it dropped to 3.75%. In late 2010, it dropped further to 3.5%. Dec. 1, 2015, the rate increased to 4%, which it has remained ever since.

The cuts to the sales tax 17 years ago were due to former Assemblyman Bill Parment, a Democrat, who essentially blocked the 8% rate.