By RICK MILLER
CattCoNews&Photos
LITTLE VALLEY — Cattaraugus County officials looking at a deficit of at least $5 million for 2023 are waiting for the results of a final audit expected by the end of June.
County Legislature Chairman Andrew Burr, R-Gowanda, and County Administrator Jack Searles confirmed their concern over the deficit — particularly since the county regularly reports an annual budget surplus.
Burr said the biggest contributing factor in the deficit — however big it is — is Gov. Kathy Hochul’s confiscation of $3.5 million in Federal Medicaid Assistance percentage (FMAP) funding, as well as using $3 million from the county fund balance to reduce the 2024 property tax levy.
The county will also lose at least $500,000 over a new state foreclosure policy and $500,000 in housing costs for those who are homeless, Burr told CattCoNews&Photos Wednesday.
“We had planned on running a deficit (in 2024) because we didn’t want to cut the road program,” Burr said.
Another factor contributing to the deficit were sales tax revenues that were lower than projected, Searles said.
While 2023 sales tax revenues covered the budget, the last two quarters were negative, failing to meet projections.
“Things are getting a lot tighter,” Burr said.
Last week, Michael Brisky, Legislature vice chairman and Finance Committee chairman warned finances were getting tight and that backfilling positions would no longer be automatic.
That was not lost on department heads who had been asked to attend the Labor Relations Committee. Yet County Treasurer Matthew Keller was the only one who volunteered to defer replacing an employee as long as possible.
“The county is still very healthy financially,” Searles emphasized. “We are being proactive.”
Burr agreed, saying, “We are trying to get ahead of it.”
One of the next steps could be a job freeze, the county officials agreed. The county regularly imposes a job freeze as the time for preparing a new budget grows closer, Searles noted.
Searles noted that the County Legislature is bound by a local law that at least 15% of the county budget be held as a fund balance or surplus. That is enough to keep the county going for two months.
The county’s surplus is “well above” the 15% level, Searles added, although he did not specify the amount.
Burr said the deficit from last year will bring “more scrutiny to hiring,” spur evaluation with department heads and cap road expenses. He is not yet ready to curtail the county’s increase in road construction, which lagged for many years.
“We’re dealing with the same (financial) stresses that are affecting peoples’ budgets,” Searles said. “We are doing the right thing.”
There were three positive quarters of sales tax revenues before the last quarter of 2023 went negative – pretty much in counties across the state, the county administrator said.
“It is not unexpected and we are ahead of it,” Burr said.
