Buck: “… we’re up $3.3 million”
MONTICELLO – A casino resort opened in February of this year, so
it is not surprising that there was a significant increase in Sullivan
County room tax revenue, from about $288,000 for the first seven months
of 2017, to over $439,000 for the same period this year. The biggest
jump, by percentage, was room tax.
County Treasurer Nancy Buck said the biggest gain, by dollars, was in sales tax, the county’s largest non-property tax revenue.
“Accumulatively, for the year, from last year, we’re up $3.3 million,” Buck told the county legislature’s Management and Budget Committee.
The one number not up to expectations was gaming revenue, from Resorts World Catskill. Payment so far this year is about $750,500, putting the county on track to take in only $2 million. The initial expectation was $13 million for all of this year.
Committee Chairman Scott Samuelson called for patience, saying there are factors that are keeping the number down.
“We’re all rushing to judgment on the casino,” Samuelson said. “I think that we should let them do their job. I think it’s doing everything for the community that we hoped it would do. It is spurring on economic development and it’s spurring on interest in the community. I think it’s all good for us.”
Samuelson noted the casino rushed to open in February, over a month before its originally anticipated opening date. There are still parts of the overall project, not yet realized, including restoration of the old Concord golf course, and development of a water park and second smaller hotel.
