Yeshivaworld reported a few days ago that there would be no increase in sales tax – Upstate NY – this summer. But at the last minute, things changed. It was announces that just in time for the summer vacationers who travel to Sullivan County, the county Legislator has hiked the county sales tax to 8% from 7.5%; and raised the local hotel tax from 2% to 5%. Together, the taxes are expected to send between $5.4 million and $6.4 million flowing into county coffers each year.
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3 Responses
Believe me, the locals will hate us just as much even with all this extra money. BTW, does anyone have a ballpark figure for how much tax money the Orthodox Jews bring into the Sullivan County coffers? Is this information publicly available anywhere?
The locals would still rather have their county and lifestyles as is, regardless of how much revenue the Jews generate for the county. For example, whereas, during the winter, they have, say, Liberty Lanes to themselves, in the summer they have much more competition and they cannot be blamed for preferring that. This does not take away the right of people to vacation where they wish, but I think Dave should represent the other side, too.
Don’t forget, either, how much maintenance (extra police, roadwork due to the influx of cars, et al) is required, and comes out of those taxes. This is not to say that the county doesn’t come out ahead – I imagine they do, but even so, it still makes sense to raise the tax.
Hakatan,
I’m not saying they shouldn’t raise their taxes, and of course they prefer the quieter lifestyle the rest of the year-that’s why they live there. What I was trying to bring out was that if not for the summer vacation money they wouldn’t be able to even live there the rest of the year, because the economy in upstate NY is virtually dead.