Public Safety Committee approves salary change, multiple grants and regional partnership agreements

The Chautauqua County Public Safety Committee moved and carried a set of resolutions covering personnel classification, grants and budget adjustments during its September meeting.

Actions approved by voice vote included setting a new salary grade for a digital forensic investigator assigned to the district attorney's office; accepting victim assistance program funding for 2025–2028; amending the 2025 budget for the Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fly Car and Ambulance Services; amending the 2026 budget for the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to accept a fiscal-year-2022 technical-rescue and urban-search-and-rescue (USAR) grant; acceptance of a New York State Office of Homeland Security explosive-detection K-9 grant for the sheriff’s office; acceptance of a New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant for police traffic services (fiscal year 2026); and authorization to enter regional partnership agreements for a tactical team program.

Digital forensic investigator salary: Sam Zafuto, deputy director of finance for the district attorney’s office, said the county has reclassified an employee to a new title, "digital forensic investigator," to reflect discovery-related duties such as examining cell phones and cameras. Human resources staff indicated the new title is proposed at grade 25; the employee's prior grade was reported as grade 21. The transcript records the current grade-21 pay range as $31.68 to $41.80 per hour and the proposed grade-25 range as $36.53 to $48.70 per hour; the union contract means the move would be treated as a promotion, with an increase "at least 80¢ per hour" depending on the employee's current step. Committee members were told the change is not expected to affect the 2025 budget and the new grade was included in the 2026 tentative budget. The committee approved the resolution by voice vote.

Victim assistance funding: Committee members approved accepting victim assistance program funding for 2025–2028; county staff said the grant will offset some salaries and that a prorated portion covers quarter 4 of the current year, with the balance included in the 2026 tentative budget.

EMS budget amendment: The committee approved a budget amendment for the Chautauqua County Department of Emergency Medical Services (Fly Car and Ambulance Services). Staff reported the department is not over budget and is trending toward having revenue surplus; the amendment was described as budget-neutral and intended to carry the department through quarter 4, with a possible in-year re-evaluation at year end.

OES technical rescue/USAR grant: The committee authorized amending the 2026 budget and accepting a competitive technical rescue and USAR grant (fiscal year 2022) for which Chautauqua County is the lead agency with Cattaraugus County. Staff said there is no local share required and funds will replace outdated equipment.

Explosive-detection K-9 grant: The sheriff’s office presented a resolution to accept FY2022 grant funding from the New York State Office of Homeland Security to support an explosive-detection K-9 team. The award covers overtime, fringe, equipment purchases and required training; staff said the grant period covers 08/01/2025 to 08/31/2026 due to delays in award notices. The sheriff’s office said it has three K-9s, with two of them certified as explosive detection dogs. The grant was included in the 2025 budget and approved by the committee.

Police traffic services grant: The committee approved a Governor's Traffic Safety Committee grant for the Police Traffic Services Program (fiscal year 2026) for $23,400, covering the period 10/01/2025–09/30/2026. Staff said the funds pay overtime for enforcement details focused on seatbelt mobilizations, child-seat checks and speeding enforcement.

Regional tactical-team partnership agreements: The committee authorized entering regional partnership agreements required for a tactical-team grant. Initial participating municipalities noted in the record were the town of Ellicott, Lakewood and Jamestown; staff said other agencies (for example Dunkirk and Fredonia) are eligible to participate if they choose to reach out. Staff also said the county has not previously received this particular tactical-team grant and that a partnership agreement is required to earn points in the competitive application process. Lieutenant Howlett was named as the county contact for agencies interested in joining.

Procedure and votes: Most items were approved by voice vote; the record does not include roll-call tallies or named movers and seconders for the individual resolutions. The committee approved the minutes at the start of the meeting and adjourned by voice vote at the end of the session.