Lawmaker seeks to cut amount paid to business groups
Ulster County Legislator Joseph Maloney wants the county to stop using tax dollars to pay for chamber of commerce membership fees for county departments.
The chairman of the Legislature, though, said the dues are money well spent and that the county benefits from being a part of the business community.
Maloney, I-Saugerties, has introduced a resolution that would bar all county departments and elected officials, except those in economic development and tourism, from using taxpayer dollars to join a any chamber of commerce Ulster County beginning Jan. 1, 2019.
“I was shocked to find out I automatically began a member of the (county) Chamber of Commerce when I was elected,” said Maloney, who’s new to the Legislature this year. “Why should taxpayers pay for me or any county department to join the chamber?”
Maloney said he can see the value of the county’s economic development and tourism professionals being a part of the organizations, but that “there is little value in any other department within Ulster County government purchasing chamber of commerce memberships with taxpayer funds.”
The county paid $2,690 in membership fees to four business organizations in 2017. The largest single recipient of membership dues was the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce, which collected $1,720 from the county in 2017, including $600 from the Legislature, $385 from the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Division, $375 from the Comptroller’s Office and $360 from the Department of Planning and Economic Development.
The Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce received $225 in membership fees from the county Tourism Department, while the New Paltz Chamber of Commerce collected $305 from that department and $290 from the Comptroller’s Office. The Rondout Valley Business Association received $50 each in membership dues from the Comptroller’s Office, the Office of Employment Training, and the Tourism Department.
Under Maloney’s proposal, the county would save about $1,750.
“There’s a tangible benefit to working with these business organizations, said Legislature Chairman Ken Ronk. “I don’t think nickel and diming in this way, especially to an organization that provides so many benefits, is a good thing.”
Ronk, R-Wallkill, noted that as a result of the county’s relationship with the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce, the organization has agreed to fund up to $1,000 annually to keep the county’s electric car-charging stations free to the public.
“Do you think they’ll still do that if we’re not a member? I don’t think so,” Ronk said.
Maloney’s proposal is to go before legislative committees and the full Legislature for consideration later this month.