State will be asked to extend extra local sales tax

Dutchess County lawmakers have started the process of seeking state permission to continue charging threequarters of a percentage point more than the New York limit on county sales taxes for another two years.

The request passed the county Legislature’s Budget and Finance Committee on Thursday, but not before Legislator Joel Tyner, D-Clinton, who historically has opposed the request, said the county should tax large companies that he claims underpay their employees. The total sales tax in Dutchess County is 8.125 percent — 4 percent levied by the state; 3 percent levied by the county, the maximum allowed under home rule granted by the state to all counties; the additional 0.75 percent levied by the county with special state permission; and 0.375 percent levied by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which operates Metro-North Railroad in Dutchess County.

County Legislator Joseph Incoronato called the sales tax “progress” and said people only pay it when they make purchases.

“The wealthy and more affluent tend to spend more; they have a greater propensity to consume,” said Incoronato, R-Wappingers Falls. “They have the extra money as opposed to the people that are less capable of funding sales tax. Their rental is usually not reflecting sales tax. Their medical stuff is not reflecting sales tax. Their food is generally not reflecting sales tax.”

Most economists actually identify the sales tax not as progressive, but as a regressive tax that extracts proportionally more revenue relative to income from lesser-earning people than the more affluent.

Incoronato criticized Tyner’s suggestion to make up the income from the sales tax as “nonsense.”

Without the renewed three-quarters of 1 percent sales tax, county Budget Director Jessica White said, the county would have to make up almost $37 million in lost revenue by implementing massive program cuts and laying off 300 employees.

The full county Legislature is expected to endorse the tax renewal at its next session. The measure then needs expected approval from the state Assembly and Senate and the governor.