Sales Tax Holiday Looks Dead in Assembly
Local officials reacted with disappointment as a proposal for a “Sales Tax Holiday” appears dead on arrival in the New York State Assembly.
The plan would have exempted certain clothing purchases from the county’s 4-percent sales tax from Aug. 16 to 25 in an effort to provide some relief to families doing back-to-school shopping. Legislation to enact the tax holiday passed the Senate on June 21, but lawmakers say it’s unlikely to make it out of the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee.
Assemblywoman Sandy Galef introduced the legislation in the chamber but said she could not rally the support needed for its passage.
“As much as I tried, there was just not support in the Ways and Means Committee,” Galef said. “It pretty much is dead for now.”
At a meeting this month, the Putnam County Legislature unanimously passed a resolution to request authorization for the tax break. The bill’s failure to make it through Albany frustrated County Executive MaryEllen Odell, who said she was trying to save shoppers a few bucks and stop people from going to neighboring counties and Connecticut for their back-to-school shopping.
“I had hoped that Assemblywoman Galef, as a senior member of the majority, would have been able to get the support for our ‘Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday’ home rule bill, as important as this one is to our local businesses, chambers of commerce and families,” Odell said in a press release Wednesday. “What happened to bipartisan cooperation, especially in a situation such as this where we have unanimous support from our County Legislature, neighboring county executives, and the business communities?”
Galef said while she supported the bill, some lawmakers are concerned it will take business away from neighboring counties.
“I think they’re always looking at what’s happening economically in the counties around them, and a lot of the counties are not working well,” she said. “It has an impact on the other counties around here.”
Galef had also tried to pass the tax holiday as part of a regional plan, but that too had little support. She noted the state legislature had succeeded extending the county’s current sales tax rate, as a drop in the rate would have cost the county million in revenues.
