1% Sales Tax Hike; No County Property Tax Increases for 2020 & 2021
After a six-month back-and-forth between White Plains and Albany, state legislators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed to increase the sales tax rate in Westchester by 1 percent, which will provide county government the revenue needed to not have to raise county property taxes for the next two years.
At a special meeting last week, the Westchester County Board of Legislators, in a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 12-0, adopted a 1 percent increase in the county’s sales tax rate – a measure that was made possible by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Albany on Sunday.
The measure will go into effect Aug. 1. The additional sales tax is expected to generate about $68 million in new revenue for Westchester County in 2019, about $20 million of which will go to local municipalities and school districts. In 2020, the measure should generate around $129 million in new revenue, $39 million of which will go to local municipalities and school districts.
“Westchester County owes a debt of gratitude to the governor and New York lawmakers, especially Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Speaker of the New York State Assembly Carl Heastie, and Westchester’s New York State Delegation Leader Assembly Member Gary Pretlow, for giving property taxpayers relief, and for giving us the ability to stabilize the county’s finances,” said County Executive George Latimer.
“We fought a long, hard battle for parity with other counties and with other cities in our own county, and now we are able to say property taxpayers will soon see some relief. This is a victory for municipalities and school districts in this county. Today we all benefit. This is a new day in Westchester County, and I am thankful and proud of the teamwork and unity exhibited to accomplish this.”
Even after the change, Westchester will be among the quarter of the counties in the state with the lowest sales tax rates, and will be at parity with rates in neighboring counties. The measure will not impact the sales tax rates in Yonkers, White Plains, New Rochelle or Mount Vernon. Those cities have sales tax rates that already are at or above the new 8 3/8 percent rate that will be in effect Aug. 1 in the rest of county.
“We appreciate the governor signing the legislation that was approved by the New York State Senate and Assembly,” said BOL Chairman Ben Boykin. “The new, recurring, non-property tax revenue it will generate will help us stabilize the county’s finances, rebuild our fund balance, and continue to deliver essential services to our residents, while mitigating the burden on property taxpayers.”
Majority Leader Catherine Parker added: “Nobody likes tax increases, but this is a responsible and bipartisan way to balance our county budget without dipping deeper and deeper into our rainy day funds or using one-shot revenues. Most importantly, we can alleviate some of the pressure on property taxpayers by providing millions to school districts and local governments that otherwise would have had to come from school and local property taxes.”
Legislator Margaret Cunzio said the sales tax brings Westchester County to an equitable level of neighboring counties. “The sales tax is also shared with the school districts and the municipalities,” she said. “It is important to try to get additional revenue for the schools and the municipalities to keep the taxes lower in both those areas.”
Five county legislators, including four republicans, were absent from the vote. No opposition to the sales tax increase was expressed by any members of the BOL GOP, despite calls from some Westchester republicans opposed to it on social media. More on this next week.
