Chautauqua County Executive Vince Horrigan.
MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County executive Vince Horrigan says a sales tax increase is the best way to provide property tax relief for residents while also closing a $5.7 million budget gap in 2016.
Horrigan made his comments while delivering his 2015 State of the County address Wednesday night before the Chautauqua County Legislature. He said that a large portion of the county’s budget is driven by unfunded mandates from New York State, adding that the county has already done about as much as it can to reduce spending without significantly impacting basic services.
In order to close the gap and avoid an increase in property taxes, Horrigan said the county needs to focus on the sales tax revenue stream. He said that by raising the county’s current total sales tax (7.5 percent) by just .5 percent, it could produce nearly $7.8 million in additional revenue in 2016. That would result in not only filling the multimillion dollar hole, but also providing “real” property tax relief to residents.
“Chautauqua County’s property tax burden is higher than the rest in Western New York and that is a problem. It affects business owners and it affects residents,” Horrigan said. “We want to be on equal footing with our neighbors and I firmly believe that this bridge to the future – where we will receive pension reductions and growth in our tax base – will give us the ability to finally get real property tax relief.”
Horrigan also said that of the 17 counties in Western New York, only Chautauqua and Ontario counties have a sales tax that is below 8 percent. He said that next month the county legislature will act on a motion requesting the state give permission to the county to increase it’s tax rate by .5 percent.
Will the State Give Permission?
A large part of the county executive’s plan hinges on Albany giving its permission for the county to proceed with a sales tax hike. That’s easier said than done, considering this is not the first time the county has requested approval for raising the local sales tax rate, only to see it denied by the state legislature.
Horrigan’s predecessor Greg Edwards also called on the state to give the county the ability to raise the sales tax if needed, but permission was never granted. However, Horrigan told WRFA following his presentation last night that he remains optimistic that despite the negative connotation that comes with increasing taxes in Albany, this time state lawmakers could approve the request.
“It will be challenging, but here’s the positive side – there’s a new speaker. So there’s a new attitude [in Albany],” Horrigan said. “How strong that attitude is, we don’t know. But we’re also linking [the sales tax increase] to a property tax cut and that’s the key. You just can’t raise taxes without some cut somewhere else. And what we’ve seen is we are out of whack. We’re chasing people away because of property taxes.”
Horrigan says that if the state legislature were to grant home rule approval, the increase would take effect in December of this year.
The current sales tax in Chautauqua County does include a clothing tax exemption of up to $100, as well as a home energy exemption. Horrigan says that if the increase were granted, both exemptions would still remain in effect. The county sales tax has remained at 7.5 percent since 2005.
Other Objectives for 2015 and Beyond
In addition to the sales tax, Horrigan said it is vital that the county continue to look toward economic development with a focus on tourism and manufacturing. He also said that it’s time the county look for ways to reduce the growing number of residents who are being jailed by finding alternatives to incarceration. Currently there are so many residents in jail that the county has to send some of the prisoners to other jails in the state, creating an additional cost for taxpayers. The county executive also laid out other long-term objectives, including a reduction in the cost of health insurance for employees, reducing the local share subsidy to the airport, and increase revenue from the landfill.
The county executive acknowledged his Deficit Reduction Committee that was established last year for their help in identifying what he feels are achievable objectives.
The entire State of the County speech will be broadcast Thursday Night on WRFA’s Community Matters program, beginning at 6 p.m.
A copy of the power point presentation of the speech can also be found at the County Executive’s website.
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