Sales Tax Eliminated For Clothes & Shoes Under $110 In Dutchess County - Plus - Forfeited Beacon Sales Tax Renegotiated Without Disclosing Beacon's Collection To Public

Starting March 1st, 2022 residents and visitors shopping in Dutchess County will not pay sales tax on individual clothing or footwear items costing less than $110. This cut in sales tax was first announced in October 2021, and adopted when Dutchess County passed its budget in December 2021. Sales tax generated from Beacon continues to be forfeited to Dutchess County - meaning the City of Beacon does not collect the money generated from sales tax to spend at its digression.

For decades, the decision for Beacon, Poughkeepsie and other municipalities in Dutchess County has been to funnel sales tax money to Dutchess County, and receive negotiated payments from Dutchess County in return. The dollar amount of sales tax generated from Beacon has not been disclosed by Dutchess County or New York State, as reported by A Little Beacon Blog, and continues to not be disclosed during Beacon’s recent negotiations with Mayor Lee Kyriacou in 2022 and signed legislation to continue the practice.

But First - The Benefit For Shoppers

According to Dutchess County’s press release from Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro sent 2/28/2022: “The sales tax exemption on clothing and footwear was adopted as part of the 2022 County Budget which provided for and is part of several efforts to deliver sustained tax relief to Dutchess County residents with more than $20 million in annual tax relief, including the largest property tax decrease in County history.”

“Starting Tuesday, residents and visitors will now pay less when they need to make essential clothing and footwear purchases. Combined, we are delivering $20 million in sustained tax relief.”

This means that every item in a store that is clothing or footwear and is under $110 will not be charged sales tax. Shops that ring their sales up manually will need to remember to do this when writing out the receipt. Shops that use point of sale (POS) systems and bookkeeping software like QuickBooks will have an easier time of assigning what products within their inventory have sales tax attached.

Different Sales Taxes Attached To Each Purchase In New York State

There are different taxes attached to retail sales. “In New York State, clothing, footwear, and items used to make or repair exempt clothing which are sold for less than $110 per item or pair are currently exempt from the State’s 4% sales tax,” according to Dutchess County’s press release.

“Consumers currently pay the Dutchess County sales tax rate of 3.75% and the 3/8th% Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MTA) tax, for a total of 4.125% tax on these purchases,” the press release outlined. “Effective March 1st, 2022, Dutchess County becomes one of only 9 counties in New York to eliminate county sales tax on clothing and footwear items under $110, and the only county in the mid-Hudson Valley region to do so.”

Those counties are or have been: Chautauqua County, Chenango County (outside the following) Norwich (city), Columbia County, Delaware County, Dutchess County, Greene County, Hamilton County, Tioga County, and New York City.

The sales tax exemption is a per-item exemption and doe snot include the 3/8th% MTA tax.

According to the press release, Dutchess County retailers were notified of the upcoming sales tax change by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Specific details of the exemption are available online Publication 718-C – Sales and Use Tax Rates on Clothing and Footwear.

Details Of Type Of Clothing Exempt

According to the legislation, “the exemption applies only to clothing and footwear worn by humans. It also applies to most fabric, thread, yarn, buttons, snaps, hooks, zippers, and similar items that become a physical component part of exempt clothing, or that are used to make or repair exempt clothing.”

Items not included in the exemption include costumes or rented formal wear; items made from pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, or imitations; athletic equipment; or protective devices, such as motorcycle helmets.

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What This Means For Sales Tax Collected From Beacon

New sales tax sharing agreement for 2023-2032 have been negotiated and are being signed into law. The dollar amount of sales tax generated from stores in Beacon has not been disclosed to the public by Mayor Kyriacou, who very briefly briefed the City Council at a Workshop meeting in February 2022, and more in depth at the following meeting, where the renegotiated rate was unanimously voted Yes on.

According to Dutchess County’s 2/28/2022 press release announcing this new sales tax cut: “The clothing and sales tax exemption goes into effect as the County is working with the Cities of Beacon and Poughkeepsie to update the current sales tax sharing agreement, which provides millions of dollars in sales tax revenue to local municipalities each year. The current agreement expires in 2023, and requires the authorization of each City Council, the County Legislature, and the NYS Comptroller.

“The agreement allows Dutchess County Government to continue to collect a 3.75% County Sales and Use Tax, with the Cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon surrendering their right to receive one-half of the non-state sales and use tax (which equals 1.5%) collected within their respective municipalities. (The agreement is among these three parties because under state law, only county and city governments have the right to impose a local sales tax; towns and villages do not have that right.)

“The new agreement will be a streamlined agreement that eliminates the complicated formula for sales tax growth contained in the current agreement. The new agreement, which will run from 2023 to 2033, will be a simple percentage formula. Each of the cities will see a graduated increase in the percentage of sales tax received over the term of the agreement, with the City of Poughkeepsie increasing their percentage of sales tax collected from the current 4.59% to receiving 6.02% by 2030. The City of Beacon will go from its current 2.00% to receiving 2.62% by 2030. Local towns and villages will continue to share 9.5% of total county sales tax collected.

“Over the last 10 years, we have distributed more than $300 million in sales tax to our 2 cities, 20 towns and 8 villages. This new agreement increases the percentage of sales tax the two cities will receive, while ensuring the towns and villages sales tax revenue is protected and grows as sales tax receipts grow,” County Executive Molinaro said.

“The City of Beacon Council voted to approve the new agreement on Tuesday, February 22nd. The City of Poughkeepsie Council is expected to vote on the agreement on March 14th. It will then go to the Dutchess County Legislature for vote at the April board meeting.”

Generated Sales Tax Grew In 2021

According to a press release made by Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinar’s office on 10/13/2021: “Dutchess County has seen revenues rebound strongly in 2021, with sales tax receipts well exceeding original projections year-to-date and continued federal reimbursement for many of the COVID-19 expenses as well as American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding. This has enabled the County to fill many of the positions that had been held vacant this year and restore full position funding in the 2022 Executive Budget, expand and enhance programs, while also reducing the property tax levy – the amount collected from property taxpayers.”

While Dutchess County indicates that they know the sales tax number generated to them by surrounding municipalities who have forfeited their right to collect their own sales taxes, the totals for each municipalities continues to not be disclosed by Dutchess County, or Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou, if that number was disclosed to him while negotiating with the county on the rate.

Dutchess County Legislature Chairman Gregg Pulver said, “At a time when many costs are going up for families, I am very proud that Dutchess County Government is doing all we can to lower costs for our residents. This sales tax exemption helps people hang on to their hard-earned money and also makes Dutchess County an even more attractive shopping destination for visitors. We have worked hard to make smart, conservative fiscal decisions over the years so we can keep providing savings to our citizens.”

Knowing the sales tax number generated by each municipality would help all Dutchess County residents know if their municipality were getting a good deal from the County when being cut a check to be used at each municipality’s digression, in addition to being provided services by Dutchess County.

This Week's City Council Agenda For 2/22/2022

On the double-twos Tuesday 2/22/2022, the agenda for the City Council Meeting is packed. You can read the full agenda here, and when the video of the public meeting is posted the following day, the video is published with the agenda as well. You can find original and official agendas on the City of Beacon website.

Highlights include 2 Public Meetings where the public is invited to voice their opinion on a specific topic. This week, those are:

• Good Cause Eviction Law for Beacon: While laws do exist in New York State that can protect the tenant, communities throughout New York State have been pursuing an additional protection and requirement of the landlord to show “good cause” for evicting a tenant when the landlord brings the tenant to court. Tenants should be reminded that they should not self-evict. There is a process the landlord must pursue. The outcry from the public to support this law resulted in the City of Beacon entering into an agreement with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (LSHV). While Legal Services of the Hudson Valley helps all in the Hudson Valley via their Housing Unit page, the agreement with Beacon gave Beaconties access to a paralegal. Regardless of if you have the phone number or not, contact the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley to get help if you are threatened with eviction. They can provide assistance. This Public Comment portion is on if Beacon should adopt Good Cause Eviction legislation crafted for Beacon or not. Please do read the 16 page proposed legislation before commenting. There are many details included in it that go beyond assumptions of what is fair for people from a philosophical level. It is 16 pages and you can read the latest draft here.

• Residency Requirements for Career Firefighters and the Fire Chief: The City Council is pursuing enlarging the sphere of residency for Career Firefighters from 15 miles to 30 miles. For the Fire Chief, it is proposed that the Fire Chief live at a distance at the digression of the Mayor. The thought process is that the Fire Chief is not on as many active calls, and can live farther away. In 2022, the City of Beacon hired 3 Lieutenants, giving them a comfortable amount of leadership. As Beacon’s current Fire Chief approaches retirement, the City of Beacon is preparing for recruitment. Read the proposal here.

  Other notable items are on the agenda, which you can read in full here.

  Sales Tax Agreement With Dutchess County Up For Renewal

  One long term item on the Agenda is the Sales Tax for the City of Beacon. For the last few decades, Dutchess County has collected and kept the sales tax for Beacon and other municipalities, and paid back to Beacon and other municipalities in a negotiated guaranteed flat rate over a number of years. However, the total number of dollars acquired through Beacon’s Sales Tax has not been revealed to Beacon officials in the previous administration by Dutchess County nor by New York State. According to Beacon’s previous Mayor Randy Casale, Dutchess County Marcus Molinaro claimed to also not know knew the total Sales Tax number. Hard to believe? Seems like those numbers live somewhere. ALBB did extensive research to find it, but came up empty handed. The City of Beacon is about to enter a new agreement with Dutchess County to continue collecting Beacon’s Sales Tax in return for a flat rate of money paid on a regular basis. While this may be a good arrangement, how would one know, if one doesn’t have the Sales Tax number to consider when presented with a proposed flat rate? ALBB did a Deep Dive on this issue a few years back. Brush up on your Sales Tax knowledge here as Beacon enters into this negotiation.

How Cannabis Sales Will Work (So Far); How Much Money Beacon Can Get From Tax Revenue

New York State became the 15th state in the nation to legalize adult-use cannabis (also known as marijuana, or recreational marijuana). It did so after a long delay due to many disagreements, including debates on home cultivation (reportedly rebuffed by large marijuana businesses), and reluctance from police and educators. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act (MRTA) on March 31, 2021 legalizing adult-use cannabis (also known as marijuana, or recreational marijuana) in New York State, and is undergoing review on how to handle records for those previously convicted. Effective immediately, smoking cannabis where tobacco is legally allowed is acceptable, and the selling and cultivation of the plant is being worked out by municipalities and the state now.

The legislation creates a new Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) governed by a Cannabis Control Board to oversee and implement the law. This board has no members yet, as pointed out by the City of Beacon’s legal counsel, Drew Victoria Gamils, Esq. of Keane and Beane during her MRTA presentation to the City Council during a 6/14/2021 Workshop meeting discussing Beacon’s options. The OCM will issue licenses and develop regulations outlining how and when business can participate in the new industry.

Regulatory Framework Created In Name Of Social Justice

As stated on the OCM’s website, part of the reason the plant has been legalized is to balance equity in the profit and enjoyment of cannabis. Three frameworks are noted to be the core to the regulation:

Social Justice
Establishes a robust social and economic equity program to actively encourage members from communities disproportionally impacted by the policies of prohibition to participate in the new industry.

Public Health & Safety
Administers a sophisticated quality assurance regulatory structure including standards for production and manufacturing, strict product testing, labeling, packaging and advertising to ensure products are safe for consumers and not targeted to youth.

Economic Development
Encourages small business and farmers to participate in the cannabis industry with the creation of microbusiness, cooperative and delivery license types.

Cities And Towns Can Opt-Out Of Sales, But Not Growing At Home

According to Attorney Drew’s presentation, “the MRTA gives cities the ability to opt-out of allowing adult-use dispensaries and/or adult-use social consumption sites to operate within their boundaries.” If a municipality already had law banning the retail sale of recreational marijuana, such local law is not valid. The municipality would need to adopt a new local law to opt-out, and must do so by December 31, 2021 and is subject to a permissive referendum under Municipal Home Rule Law §24.

The right to opt-out does not apply to cultivating or processing cannabis within the city’s boundaries. People growing cannabis on their own can do so at their private residence (in about 2023, not now). A person can grow up to 3 mature and 3 immature cannabis plants. If a person has roommates at their residence, 6 mature and 6 immature cannabis plants “may be cultivated, harvested, dried or possessed within any private residence or on the grounds of a person’s private residence.”

As for the security of the plant(s): “The person must take reasonable steps designed to ensure that such cannabis is in a secured place not accessible to any person under the age of 21,” according to Attorney Drew’s presentation, where she suggested different ways Beacon’s City Council could craft their legislation on securing the plant, such as a greenhouse. A requirement of that magnitude, however which would add considerable expense to the grower. No county, town, city or village may enact or enforce any regulation that essentially prohibits a person from engaging in personal cultivation, and violations of the personal cultivation restrictions are limited to a civil penalty of up to $200.

The right to grow at home will not come until 2023, Attorney Drew explained during the meeting. She advised the Council that they do have time to create regulations, but recommended waiting until the Board makes its recommendations first. “Nobody go buy seeds yet, bc that's against the law,” she said with a laugh.

What Cannabis Licenses Are In Play For Beacon To Regulate

According to Attorney Drew’s presentation, the following license were created for the legalization of marijuana in New York State, but only 2 of them can be regulated in zoning laws in Beacon at this time: Adult-use on-site consumption license and Adult-use retail dispensary license.

The MRTA created the following categories of licenses:

• Adult-use cultivator license

• Registered organization adult-use cultivator, processor, distributor, retail dispensary license.

• Registered organization adult-use cultivator, processor and distributor license.

• Adult-use processor license

• Adult-use cooperative license

• Adult-use distributor license

• Adult-use retail dispensary license

• Microbusiness license

• Delivery license

• Nursery License

• Adult-use on-site consumption license

Businesses applying for a Adult-use retail dispensary license license or Adult-use on-site consumption license must apply for approval from the city. According to Attorney Drew: “The city shall have the option to submit an opinion in favor of or against a license. When the municipality expresses an opinion in favor of or against the granting of such license or permit application, any such opinion shall be deemed part of the record. The Cannabis Control Board (CCB) shall respond in writing to such city, town, village or community board with an explanation of how such opinion was considered in the granting or denial of an application.”

Beacon Would Get 1% Sales Tax Directly - Going Around Dutchess County’s Sales Tax Collection

Sales tax from Beacon stores is not sent directly to Beacon. For the past few decades, Beacon and other municipalities have agreed to funnel all sales tax to Dutchess County, and in turn gets paid a flat rate that does not change if the sales tax goes up or down. During the pandemic, Beacon’s pre-negotiated sales tax payments from Dutchess County did not change. However, Beacon did not receive a bonus payment during the pandemic, the previous City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero confirmed to A Little Beacon Blog.

That said, neither the New York State Department of Finance nor Dutchess County will tell anyone what the actual sales tax is that is generated from Beacon, as A Little Beacon Blog reported in 2020 after beginning research in 2019. If Beacon decides not to continue this agreement, which expires before 2024, somehow, that dollar amount will need to be revealed, if Beacon begins collecting its own sales tax

For retail cannabis sales, the tax revenue will calculated in a particular way called a seed-to-sale system, said Attorney Drew when Mayor Lee Kyriacou asked her how the distribution would work based on Beacon’s sales tax arrangement with Dutchess County. She confirmed that Beacon’s portion of the tax revenue will go directly to Beacon, and that the Cannabis Control Board will be part of the overseeing entity to ensure that happens.

How The Tax Revenue Will Be Distributed

According to Attorney Drew, the New York State Comptroller will collect the money, then distribute it to Dutchess County, who then distributes it to Beacon.

From the presentation:

• Cannabis products will be subject to a 13% sales tax in New York, 9% of which will be directed to state coffers and 4% to localities.

• The 4% cannabis excise tax for local government purposes would be imposed on the retail sale of adult-use cannabis products from retail dispensaries to consumers.

• The revenue from the tax will be distributed quarterly to each county.

• Counties will receive 25% of the local retail tax revenue and 75% of the revenue would be distributed quarterly by the counties to the cities, towns and villages within such county in which a retail dispensary is located.

• The revenue will be distributed in proportion to the sales of adult-use cannabis products by the retail dispensaries in such municipalities as reported by the seed-to-sale system.

• The county must distribute money no later than 30 days after receiving it from the State Comptroller.

One should ask if the public will have access to the quarterly audit of seed-to-sale system the exact amount per municipality without the need for a FOIA, since the regular retail sales tax for Beacon has been impossible to get, despite FOIAs being filed.

Opting In, But Making Business Impossible

The law states that municipalities that do not opt-out in order to collect the sales tax revenue and welcome new types of businesses into its borders, cannot do so in a way that effectively makes it impossible to do business. From the presentation: “A municipality that does not opt-out cannot adopt regulations that make the operation of licensed retail dispensaries or on-site consumption sites 'unreasonably impracticable’ as determined by the CCB.”

Councilmember Dan Aymar-Blair asked if Beacon could limit the number of a business type opening up shop within its borders. Attorney Drew answered “Currently the MRTA has a requirement that it must be located at least 500 feet away from school grounds, and 200 away from place of worship. Right of the bat with MRTA itself.” She recommended that Beacon could adopt requirements in the city code to make that requirement larger, or add additional requirements, such as being 500 feet from any park. Or the reverse - being located near a park where there is ample open air and circulation. Or no additional requirements.

Other regulatory controls, she said, can include:

• Site Plan and Special Permit Requirements

• Location of Uses

• Distance from Schools and Houses of Worship

• Hours of Operation

• Lighting and Security

• Nuisance and Odor Controls

• Other Performance Standards

The discussion of this will continue, so expect to see it on future Agendas for City Council meetings.

How Sales Tax In Beacon Is Collected - By Dutchess County - And Redistributed

As business in Beacon began to increase years ago, with commercial rents and home prices inching up, A Little Beacon Blog grew curious about the sales tax, and if Beacon was benefiting from any increased sales tax. Furthermore, we wondered, how Beacon was benefiting tax-wise from the growing short term rental market from website platforms like Airbnb.

Nick Page, a local resident and Dutchess County Legislator, as well as managerial worker for his family’s commercial and residential property development company, Hudson Todd, LLC, in Beacon, was wondering the same thing. He embarked on a search, and A Little Beacon Blog brought on research assistant Yvonne DeMoss to pursue finding the total sales tax generated for Beacon. Despite following up with numerous offices, we were unable to find the sales tax number. Instead, we are publishing what we have found so far that helps clarify how Beacon earns back the sales tax generated here.

“Surrendering Of Rights Of Preemption With Respect To Sales And Use Tax As A Source Of Revenue”

Decades ago, Beacon, Poughkeepsie, and some other surrounding municipalities, agreed to surrender all sales tax generated in their communities to Dutchess County to manage. Dutchess County is then contracted to pay out a fixed sum from that collection of money, negotiated over the years through different contracts and mayors, back to the municipalities. You can see the contract originally signed between Dutchess County and Beacon (as well as other municipalities) here that started as far back as 1989 and was renewed in 2013 to go through 2022.

How Much Sales Tax Is Generated In Beacon?

When A Little Beacon Blog started this research project last year, we were looking for the total number of sales tax dollars generated in Beacon, so that we could see if the number was going up or down. Instead, we learned that Dutchess County pays Beacon a fixed sum over a scheduled period of time. Once we learned of the flat rate Beacon was paid by Dutchess County, we wanted to see if Beacon was getting a good deal or not, since the flat rate is one that is negotiated. In June 2019, we reached out to Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony Ruggiero, to see if he knew Beacon’s sales tax total generated in Beacon, as compared with the flat rate Beacon receives, but he did not: “I am sorry, I would not have that information. We believe it is a pretty good deal.”

When A Little Beacon Blog inquired with then Mayor Randy Casale about it also in June 2019, he stated: “I’ve been looking for the number for 4 years!” Randy did indicate that by having a flat rate that does not change, it could put Beacon in a good position of guaranteed income, should it face a slump or dark period as is has before. This makes the annual budget more predictable. New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said after issuing a sales tax performance report in 2018: “As history has proven, sales tax can be an unpredictable revenue source for our local governments.”

We have confirmed that the Department of Taxation collects the amount of sales tax generated in Beacon, but will not release it, stating that tallying a total dollar figure would be difficult, as online sales gets tricky when items are purchased from a store and shipped out of state.

Jeff McLauchlin, Senior Administrative Analyst for the New York Department of Taxation, explained it this way: “Sales tax vendors collect the tax and remit it to the State Department of Taxation and Finance and the department distributes the revenue. Sales tax in New York is a destination based. One quick example: A business in Beacon sells to a customer online who lives in Saratoga. The sales tax rate is that for Saratoga and the return filed by the business should reflect the breakdown of sales to different jurisdictions properly. Purchasers who aren’t charged the correct rate or no tax at all are still responsible for paying the sales tax.” Saratoga County also collects sales tax for municipalities, but Saratoga City, a tourist destination, collects its own separately. A finance transparency tool can be found here.

Dutchess County Legislature Nick Page submitted a FOIL to the Department of Taxation and Finance in July 2019 in order to get clear numbers, and was told that the answer would take time to process, might be completed in August 2019, would have a fee for printing pages, and was not guaranteed to be approved.

The New York State Comptrollers office also states that they are not apprised of what the incoming dollar figure is, but does track the total amount for payments paid out (aka “distributions) by Dutchess County to each participating municipality. The State Comptroller’s response in May 2019 by way of Katelyn Israelski, with the Office of State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, was: “Our Local Government and School Accountability division has informed me that OSC doesn't typically monitor monthly or quarterly sales tax distributions by counties, but that data is reported annually by both the county and those local governments receiving funds.”

Katelyn then attached the historical data that they have available for Beacon for Sales Tax Revenue Distributions from Dutchess County. “Unfortunately,” she continued, “we do not have data on the sales tax generated, for which NYS Dept. of Tax and Finance is the primary source.”

The fixed dollar amount that Beacon receives from Dutchess County is as follows, as per the most recent contract through 2022:

The County shall distribute to the Cities of Poughkeepsie and Beacon, collectively, a fixed amount of money from the $25 million dollars referred to in Paragraph 2 above pursuant to Section 1262(c) of the Tax Law. The City of Poughkeepsie shall receive $9,566,212 and the City of Beacon shall receive $4,158,686 subject to the provisions of paragraph 6 below.

Beginning in 2014 and continuing through 2022 the County shall make 21 equal payments of $198,032.66 to Beacon and $455,533,90 to Poughkeepsie with such payments to be made between February 1st and December 31st of each year. Such payments by the County shall be made directly to the Cities on the next business day after receipt of the County's share of the sales tax proceeds from the State Commissioner, by wire to a designated account or by check of the County Commissioner of Finance, at the option of each City.

Beacon will not exercise its right of preemption to impose a local Sales and Use Tax pursuant to Article 29 of the Tax Law of the State of New York to be effective for each year of the term of this agreement as long as the County's Sales and Use Tax remains at no less than 3.75%.

What About Airbnb Tax Revenue?

In terms of taxes collected from Airbnb renters, of which there is a healthy market in Beacon, which was just legalized in June of 2020, Dutchess County again receives the revenue from that tax, known as the Hotel Tax, or in some cases, Bed Tax or Occupancy Tax. Says County Legislature Nick Page: “Airbnb began collecting 4% Bed Tax from Hosts using the Airbnb platform on March 1, 2017. Airbnb remits one payment to the County by the 20th of each month for the preceding month’s activity. The County received $221,918 from Airbnb in 2017. The payments are not broken down by municipality and the County does not have access to the addresses from Airbnb.”

It is unclear at this time if Dutchess County sends a payment to Beacon for a portion of the bookings made in Beacon. According to James Gazzale of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, the collection and tracking of the Hotel Tax resides with the county: “This is strictly a local county issue. It’s separate from our regular sales tax. The state authorizes this hotel tax, but the county imposes, administers and collects it. Your best bet is to reach out to the local county Commissioner of Finance.”

Onward! Consider this story ongoing as we learn more about taxes and where they go.

Dutchess County Projects $20-$50 Million Revenue Decline - 41% Comes From Sales Tax - Of Which Beacon Pays In

County Executive Marcus Molinaro released 2020 projections for a severe decrease in revenue to Dutchess County due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the release, it “includes a projected sales tax revenue decline of $20-50 million in 2020. Sales tax accounts for 41% of the County’s 2020 budget,” County Executive Molinaro said during his June 10, 2020 online Town Hall. The City of Beacon and other municipalities like Poughkeepsie pay into Dutchess County’s sales tax collection. Beacon does not keep the sales tax generated here, and is instead paid out a distribution of a fixed, negotiated amount from the cumulative sales tax collected across municipalities each year. A Little Beacon Blog conducted research into this, and reported on it here.

According to Molinaro’s statement, 3 of the sales tax payments Dutchess County has received from New York State in 2020, reflecting sales tax revenues since March 1st, have been lower than 2019. You can read about where which municipalities Dutchess County collects sales tax from in New York State, which include Beacon, Poughkeepsie and smaller surrounding municipalities.

Molinaro went on to describe a furlough program for Dutchess County employees: “In the wake of a projected $40-80 million revenue loss, Dutchess County Government has offered its workforce a voluntary furlough program, which 66 employees across various departments have volunteered for, and implemented freezes on hiring and non-essential spending. Funding from New York State accounts for 16% of Dutchess County’s annual budget and Governor Andrew Cuomo has suggested the pandemic may result in as much as a 20% cut in state aid to local counties, resulting in a projected loss of $15-20 million to Dutchess County. County Executive Molinaro continues to advocate for state and federal aid for counties like Dutchess to avoid being forced to eliminate critical services and programs.”