Lakewood Village Board hold's budget hearing that draw standing-room only crowd; lawmakers vow to make cuts to bring down tax increase...
A standing-room only crowd was on hand for last night's public hearing on the village of Lakewood's tentative, $5.8-million, 2025-26 budget. The tentative spending plan is up a projected 29%. However... village trustees appear confident they can at cut about a dollar of the proposed tax rate increase of $1.65 per $1,000 assessed value. Trustee John Shedd says board members have just started discussing what kind of cuts can be made, and trustees add that they've been mulling a number of cuts already. One of the biggest areas of discussion was over police department salaries... and, why they're up dramatically in the budget. Trustee Ellen Barnes... a retired police officer... says there is a smaller pool of officers because fewer people are going into the profession. Barnes says that means you need to boost salaries to get and keep good officers... and that's driving up the budget. The more than 50-minute long public hearing also touched on police and fire department equipment and other fixed costs that have gone up. The tentative budget plan increases the tax rate from $8.12 per $1,000 assessed value -- to $9.77. The final budget will be voted on in two weeks.
Village Board also holds hearing on overriding state property tax cap...
Lakewood Village Board members are hopeful they won't have to exceed New York state's 2% property tax cap. However... they want to be ready if they have to. Trustees also held a brief public hearing on allowing them to override the tax cap... which may end up as low as 1.2%. Some residents expressed concerns over three things: new, increased assessments by the town of Busti... the size of the village budget... and, the impact of new wetland regulations on properties along Chautauqua Lake. Trustee Ellen Barnes calls it a "Bermuda Triangle" for village property owners... with "everything coming together like this at this particular moment, and I sympathize with you." She adds there are lot still yet to be determined. Trustee Ben Troche says the board hopes they don't have to use the override in the final budget. Mayor Randy Holcomb noted that the new assessments... once grievances are heard... won't impact budgets until local school taxes go out later this year. Many property owners in the village have seen their reassessments at least double. Holcomb says the village, town and county taxes would not be gauged on the new assessments until 2026.
Fire heavily damages Ellington structure...
Flames have extensively damaged a home overnight in the town of Ellington. Sheriff's Department dispatchers say Ellington firefighters were called to the scene on West Main Street about 12:45 a.m. Reports from the scene indicated the structure was fully involved... and, was unoccupied. Ellington was joined at the scene by Kennedy... Cherry Creek... Ellery Center volunteers, and fire coordinators. No injuries were reported.
Fire in Sinclairville heavily damages structure there...
Chautauqua County fire investigators say they're still trying to determine the cause of a weekend structure fire in the village of Sinclairville. County fire dipatchers say the call came in shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday to 27 Main St., Lot 9 in the village. Sinclairville firefighters were joined at the scene by Gerry and Cassadaga fire crews. Once the blaze was out... the county's Fire Investigation Team was called into look for the cause and origin of the fire. However... following a "hands-on" investigation... the cause remains undetermined. No injuries were reported.
City man arrested on multiple charges after allegedly being found drinking alcoholic beverage on Jamestown street...
A Jamestown man has been arrested on multiple charges after he was spotted drinking an alcoholic beverage on a sidewalk on the city's eastside Saturday morning. Jamestown police say they were patrolled in the area of Prendergast Avenue and East Fifth Street just after 7:30 a.m. when they saw 45 year-old Guerhard DeGraff drinking the alcohol on the sidewalk. Officers say DeGraff initially refused to stop for police... and, even after he finally stopped... he continued to drink the beverage in front of police. As the officers attempted to address his behavior... DeGraff refused to pour out the beverage, and began pulling away from them when told he was under arrest. He then actively resisted... and, tried to fight with officers. After a brief struggle... DeGraff was subdued and put into wrist retraints. However... he continued to fight and kick at the officers while in custody. DeGraff was jailed pending arraignment on charges of public consumption of alcohol... second-degree obstruction and harassment... and, resisting arrest.
Council approves reinstating Fire Chief's position, as Coon moves into retirement next month...
Jamestown's Deputy Fire Chief is retiring early next month... and, the position is reverting back to full Fire Chief status in the city. That after the City Council recently approved a measure that changes the public safety management structure back to autonomous fire and police chiefs. In recent years... the Police Chief has also been the director of Public Safety... with the Deputy Fire Chief under that umbrella. Current Deputy Fire Chief Matt Coon says it's not a major change... and, is more administrative in nature. Coon is retiring on May 9 from the deputy's position... and, the city is beginning to look at potential candidates. He says no matter who is chosen... they have to have officer training.
