Proposal for county to pay unpaid village taxes stalls

A proposal that would require Ulster County to compensate its three villages for unpaid municipal taxes has again stalled in the county Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee.

Committee members postponed action on the local law to hear from village of Ellenville officials, said Legislature Clerk Vicki Fabella.

Tuesday’s delay was the latest twist in a months-long effort by Legislator John Parete to have the county reimburse the county’s three villages for unpaid village taxes, as it currently does for towns and school districts.

After months of discussion, the measure was defeated in July in the Legislature’s Ways and Means Committee, blocking it from consideration by the full Legislature.

Using a procedural move known as a “petition to discharge,” Parete, D-Boiceville, was able to force the proposal to the floor of the Legislature in August, but it was promptly sent back to committee for further discussion after Legislator Herbert Litts, R-Lloyd, said he still had “several questions ... that have not been answered to my satisfaction.”

Ulster County guarantees towns and school districts their full property tax levy by paying any shortfalls due to unpaid property taxes. The county must initiate legal proceedings, usually through a tax sale, to recoup the taxes owed.

The villages of Ellenville, New Paltz and Saugerties, as well as the city of Kingston, are exempt from that arrangement, which means the villages and city must initiate their own proceedings to collect the taxes on which their budgets are based. Ulster County is one of only two counties in the state that does not reimburse villages for unpaid taxes.

The idea has been bandied about for some time, with similar proposals unsuccessfully floated in 2002 and 2014. But while village officials — and some county lawmakers — have lobbied for a takeover, other county legislators have said they are reluctant to take on the additional cost.

If the measure is again defeated in the Ways and Means Committee, Parete could force the matter to the floor a second time. If that happens, the Legislature would be required to vote on the measure.