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Chautauqua County lawmakers move to continue additional mortgage tax starting Aug. 1, 2025
Summary
Chautauqua County legislators discussed a proposed local law to continue an additional mortgage tax from Aug. 1, 2025, through April 30, 2028.
Chautauqua County legislators discussed a proposed local law to continue an additional mortgage tax that would take effect Aug. 1, 2025, and remain in force through April 30, 2028.
County Attorney Anna Morgan said the timeline is set by state filing deadlines and is not a local delay. “This is simply how it’s going to continue, onto the law that’s currently in effect,” she told the Audit and Control Committee during its May 22 meeting.
The measure continues a county charge commonly described as an additional mortgage tax. County officials said the tax produces dedicated revenue for county debt service; a county finance official told the committee the receipts are on the order of $1.7 million in recent years. The tax is imposed on certain real-estate transfer transactions and—depending on how the state calculation is applied—can be charged on the financed portion of a purchase when mortgages are used.
Committee members debated the policy trade-offs. Some legislators questioned whether the tax unfairly burdens borrowers who use mortgages while cash buyers avoid the fee, and whether the county should rely on a recurring revenue source instead of cutting spending. Others noted the money is applied to county debt and also benefits municipalities: committee members cited examples of roughly six-figure distributions to towns and villages such as Jamestown.
County finance staff and the county attorney clarified how the tax is applied and how municipal distributions work, and urged colleagues that the timing is dictated by state filing rules. The committee was also briefed separately on the quarterly resolution to distribute mortgage-tax revenue back to municipalities.
Next steps: the local law was discussed in committee and the chair and county staff said the item will be brought for a formal vote at the full legislature in the next meeting cycle to meet the state-mandated filing timeline.
Ending: County staff said they will provide a written breakdown on the mortgage-tax calculation and the distribution methodology requested by several legislators ahead of the full-legislature consideration.
