Chautauqua Lake
Chautauqua County will be holding another public meeting to discuss Chautauqua Lake boat user fees.
The meeting will take place 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, August 15 in the Legislative Chambers of the Gerace Office Building in Mayville.
County Executive PJ Wendel said at a meeting held April 12 on boat user fees that the fee would be used to help fund lake maintenance efforts that are currently being done as well to help fund the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance, who uses a metric system to distribute funds for lake efforts. Wendel said this would help reduce the amount local foundations have to support lake efforts.
For 2023, total funding requests for lakes and waterways is $2,953,296 with only $234,000 available funding from the 2% occupancy tax that goes toward protection of lakes and streams. The other 3% of the occupancy tax is designated toward promotion of tourism.
Wendel said in April that a committee to study the boat fee could include members from fishing associations, boat clubs, elected officials, and travel and tourism.
Should a recommendation to create a boat user fee be approved by the Chautauqua County Legislature, it would still require Home Rule approval from New York State in order to be implemented.
Tuesday’s meeting is open to the public and will be live streamed through the County’s YouTube page.
Those with questions about the meeting may contact Rebecca Wurster at the Chautauqua County Department of Planning and Development at (716) 363-3620 or at wursterr@chqgov.com.
Boat user fee benefiting Chautauqua lake is a good idea.