County budget doesn’t include more sales tax sharing with towns, villages

Photos by Tom Rivers: Kendall Town Supervisor Tony Cammarata speaks during the May 23 Orleans County Legislature meeting, asking the legislators to increase the local sales tax sharing with towns and villages. The county has kept them at the same level since 2001. There will be a public hearing at 4:30 p.m. today about the proposed $92 million county budget.

ALBION – Most of the Orleans County town boards and all four of the village boards this spring passed resolutions, asking the County Legislature to increase sales tax sharing with the towns and villages.

The county has frozen those municipalities to the same amount since 2001 – $1,366,671. Since then the total local sales has more than doubled. The towns and villages asked for the same 14 percent from 1996 when the total local sales tax was $9,499,138.

Last year it was $22.5 million. Through the first three quarters of 2023, the sales tax is up 2.7 percent in Orleans County from $18.48 million to $18.98 million.

If the county went to a 14 percent share it would have to increase the amount to towns and villages to $3,150,000 – a $1,783,329 increase.

But the 2024 county budget doesn’t give an increase. It’s the same $1,366,671. Legislators have said the county faces increasing state mandated costs, especially for the Medicaid program.

Jessica Marciano, a Medina  village trustee, also spoke at the May 23 Legislature meeting and said a bigger amount of the local sales tax would help the Village Board with its budget, easing some property tax pressure in the village.

“We’re flat and we have been flat for many years,” said Tony Cammarata, the Kendall town supervisor who has been pushing for more sales tax for towns and villages. “They’ve have had double-digit increases in sales tax. But they seem to have other priorities in place versus what we were hoping for.”

Cammarata said an increase in sales tax would help the municipalities deal with inflationary increases, and would help knock down the property taxes, and possibly could be used for projects in a town or village.

“We were just hoping they would see a little light in the tunnel to help us out,” he said. “Whatever they give us we appreciate because they don’t have to give us anything.”

Jack Welch, the county’s chief administrative officer, in his budget message said the state government is causing a loss of over $3 million in federal funds through the eFMAP Medicaid reconciliation for the Affordable Care Act enhanced payments. The state eliminated that money from counties, Welch said. The county also will lose out on $1.1 million in annual Medicaid to State (formally MMIS) payments, he said.

The county will have a public hearing today at 4:30 p.m. on its proposed $92 million budget, which calls for a 3.25 percent tax increase.

Lynne Johnson, the Legislature chairwoman, said the county continues to faces high inflationary pressures, while trying to meet the needs of capital projects with roads and bridges, and improvements for county-owned buildings.

Cammarata said he would like there to be continued dialogue about the local sales tax, and appreciation for the burdens facing all the local municipalities.

“We were asking for hep so we could do things to help our residents,” Cammarata said. “We’re trying to improve their lives, that’s why we’re electing officials.”

The sales tax amounts allocated for the villages and towns for 2023 include:

• Villages ($378,777 total) – Albion, $165,309; Holley, $46,545; Lyndonville, $14,876; and Medina, $152,047.
• Towns ($987,894 total) – Albion, $123,953; Barre, $64,536; Carlton, $95,418; Clarendon, $116,261; Gaines, $88,267; Kendall, $86,813; Murray, $122,421; Ridgeway, $130,057; Shelby, $103,489; and Yates, $66,679.