MONTICELLO – Sullivan County’s town supervisors are continuing their push for a commitment from county officials that they will get a share of increased sales tax revenues anticipated to come from the casino and any ancillary retail activity it might generate.
Town of Callicoon Supervisor Tom Bose, vice president of the Supervisors Association, acknowledges part of the problem is two-thirds of the county legislature, six of the nine members, are new, taking office just two months ago.
Bose said he wants the legislators to understand that they are not asking for a big amount of money.
“We’re only asking for a portion of the increase and that’s why we feel it’s miniscule in terms of, in comparison with what other counties do,” Bose said.
The formula the supervisors seek is to share anything over the threshold of $40.5 million, under which 60 percent goes to the county with 40 percent equally distributed among the towns and villages.
Legislature Chairman Luis Alvarez said they can’t make that kind of commitment with some big variables in the future.
“Problem is that how can you share something you don’t have? Let me see what we get then we can share, because we may need it.”
Alvarez said they at least need to see what rolls in after the casino is
up and running in two years.
Ulster County and the City of Kingston are currently in discussions about
their sales tax sharing going forward.
