Monticello, NY – The Sullivan County Legislature this week unanimously agreed to ask New York State to increase the local share of the sales tax by half a percent, requesting a raise in the current rate from 4% to 4.5%. (The State collects an additional 4%, so if the State grants the request, sales tax in Sullivan County would increase from 8% to 8.5%.)
“This request is a direct result of the increased burdens New York demands we shoulder,” explained Legislature Chairman Rob Doherty. “The State had us construct a $100 million jail that’s now too big for our needs, thanks to State-enacted bail reform. The NYS Office of Court Administration is directing us to build – at our expense – an addition to the County Courthouse to meet State needs, not County concerns. The State still doesn’t pay its full third of SUNY Sullivan’s budget. The proposed 2020-2021 Executive Budget threatens to shift millions of dollars in Medicaid costs back to Sullivan County. And we continue to stagger under the enormous weight of ongoing unfunded State mandates.
“Our repeated pleas for relief have gone ignored, so all we have left is the choice to raise taxes or cut services,” he continued. “Reducing or eliminating programs threatens to harm our neediest. Raising property taxes isn’t a better answer. So the County Legislature unanimously agreed that requesting a sales tax increase of just half a percent would raise revenue to cover increased State-derived costs – and should the State approve the increase, would spread the impact beyond just our property taxpayers to all residents and visitors. It’s the fairest – and really the only – choice we could make, and it’s one that other counties around us, including Orange, have been making too.”