Displaced homeless Jamestown residents are pictured protesting their perceived lack of housing and support services outside the county Department of Social Services office on Fourth Street over the summer. Last week, county officials said safety net costs are higher than they have ever been for the county. P-J file photo by Christopher Blakeslee

Chautauqua County is providing temporary housing to nearly 200 people, which is more than it ever has.

That statement was made by Jon Anderson, deputy commissioner of Social Services, during the county legislature’s Human Services Committee meeting.

During the meeting, Anderson and other county officials were discussing expenditures for safety net costs which are projected to be over budget, so the county is moving another $1.2 million from its unassigned fund balance.

“At this point, we have so many people in temporary housing. Homelessness, as you know, it’s been a big problem for the county, particularly Jamestown. Right now we have the highest number of people who are in temporary housing that we’ve had ever. It’s a historic high, about 190 people,” Anderson said. “When people come in to address their situation, and if they are homeless, we have to provide services by statute.”

In September, the county had transferred $1.5 million from its reserves to its safety net account.

According to Administrative Services Director Blake Ihrig, with this transfer, the county will have spent $11,250,000 for its safety net program in 2024. That will be $4.5 million than originally budgeted.

According to the resolution, the state will pay 28% of safety net costs and the federal government will pay 1%.

Legislator Jamie Gustafson, R-Lakewood, asked Anderson about preventative services.

Anderson said they have a team that addresses homelessness.

He said they also have case managers that work alongside people.

A new program called “Family Driven Case Management Services” will soon begin. That group will work with families to get them out of temporary housing. It is funded through the state.

Anderson said they work closely with Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. and have other programs including rapid rehousing and rental assistance.

Anderson was asked if the recent cold spell is causing the jump in temporary housing. He said it was more than just that.

“We have far fewer people in code blue shelters in hotels than last year at this time. This is just people who are struggling with all kinds of complex issues right now. …. It’s extremely high rent right now compared to even a few years ago,” he said.

According to Anderson, most of the people who are homeless right now have been county residents for a long period of time.

He also said that temporary assistance, which includes safety net, is up statewide.

Ihrig said it’s difficult to say if safety net costs will continue to need funding from its reserves.

“It’s hard to tell, honestly. We’re hoping that this is the peak. We did increase the budget compared to 2024 to 2025 so we hope we do see a dip next year,” he said.

In 2024, the county had budgeted $6.75 million for safety net. The county has budgeted $8 million for 2025.

Legislator Dan Pavlock, R-Ellington, said going into 2024, the county thought it may need to dip into its reserves and thinks the same thing will happen next year.

“You’re hoping that’s its eight (million) or seven (million) but realistically I don’t feel that it probably will be and we will probably be entertaining a budget resolution just as we are today for next year,” he said.

Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, said knowing how much Social Services goes over its budget is one of the reasons why the county keeps its reserves high.

“This is a good point of having a healthy fund balance, where we can draw from it when necessary. It’s not a hit on our budget. It’s a hit on our fund balance, which is exactly why we need to have the much talked about fund balance,” he said.