fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Unpaid taxes in Ulster County get attention from lawmakers

by Crispin Kott
September 28, 2022
in Politics & Government
0

The Ulster County Legislature’s September 20 public hearing on a proposed local law to provide for the collection of delinquent village property taxes in local villages drew but one speaker — Jeff Kaplan, the mayor of Ellenville. 

“I’ve been lobbying the county for the 20 years that I have been mayor to consider this proposition, and I’m happy to see it’s finally before this board,” Kaplan said. “When the state created villages, they left very little direction for the towns and the counties as to what obligations either a county or town has for a village. And so they left a lot of discretion for both the counties and the towns. In the case of making a municipality whole, while you are obligated to make school districts and towns whole, there is a discretion when it comes to villages.” 

Tax bills are issued by towns each January, and if they remain unpaid by May, they are turned over to the county, which then pays the whole amount to the towns and thus takes over the responsibility for collecting the delinquent bills. The county adds the bill amount plus penalties to its rolls the following January. If the taxes are unpaid for three years, the county can take foreclosure steps and sell the property at auction. 

School districts have the same arrangement as the towns, issuing tax bills in July, turning unpaid bills over to the county in September, with the bill amount plus penalties added to its rolls in January. The proposed law would give the Ulster County villages of Ellenville, New Paltz and Saugerties the same option, thus relieving the villages of the burden of trying to collect the taxes themselves. 

Kaplan said that Ulster County is one of just a few in New York State that doesn’t have similar avenues for villages to find relief, and he echoed his fellow mayors in saying it would be beneficial to Ellenville as well. 

“We have a limited budget and it’s very difficult to try to get a budget together that works when you never know how much money you’re going to be able to collect,” Kaplan said. “So if people aren’t paying their taxes, we’ve got to go out and borrow money to make up for that tax difference. Towns and schools never have this issue.”

The proposed village law was first raised at a meeting of the Legislature on August 16, with Minority Leader Kenneth Ronk (R-Shawangunk) saying the move would align with his belief that the time of village government is over. 

“Village government is, I think, becoming an obsolete level of government and an unnecessary and expensive level of government in a lot of places,” Ronk said. “In the Village of Saugerties and the Town of Saugerties, and in the Village of New Paltz and the Town of New Paltz you’ve seen a lot of consolidation of services, where there used to be two police departments there’s one police department.”

Joseph Maloney (D-Saugerties), one of the co-sponsors of the local law, agreed. 

“In the Town of Saugerties, the Village owns the water and it’s on a piece of property on Town property, and we buy water from them,” Maloney said. “It’s insanity…The lower level you go in government, it seems the more antiquated the process.”

But Village of Saugerties Mayor Bill Murphy last month said the relationships between the Village and Town of Saugerties Supervisor Fred Costello work in a collaborative way. He added that living in a village provides services a town doesn’t, and that leaving isn’t necessarily the savings people believe it might be. 

“People that live in a village, yes, they pay village tax and town tax,” Murphy said. “But they don’t pay the same level of town tax as town residents. A lot of people think when they move from a village to the town, they’re going to get a huge tax break. But even though they’re losing a village tax, the town tax becomes obviously greater because they’re a full-time town resident. It’s not the break you think it is.” 

Easy and profitable

At the meeting of the county legislature last week, Kaplan said the process of adding villages to the county’s collection of delinquent property tax process would be easy for the county to manage, and profitable as well. 

“You’ll make a lot of money for it because properties have increased significantly in the Village of Ellenville,” Kaplan said. “So this is not a losing proposition for the county, and clearly it would be a positive proposition for the Village of Ellenville, and I believe for Saugerties and New Paltz as well.”

Kaplan added that the county is likely already dealing with village property owners who are delinquent on their taxes as it is. 

“Quite frankly, the same people that aren’t paying their town tax and their school tax aren’t paying the village tax, so it’s not like you have a whole array of new properties you’re dealing with. You’re going to deal with the same properties you’re foreclosing anyways. And what it does is it’s going to give more incentive for village taxpayers to know they’re going to be treated the same.”

The legislature is planning to bring the proposed law to a vote at its next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, October 18. 

Tags: members
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

New parking in New Paltz praised by planning board

Next Post

No more bus fare: UCAT free as of October 1

Crispin Kott

Crispin Kott was born in Chicago, raised in New York and has called everywhere from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Atlanta home. A music historian and failed drummer, he’s written for numerous print and online publications and has shared with his son Ian and daughter Marguerite a love of reading, writing and record collecting.

 Crispin Kott is the co-author of the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City (Globe Pequot Press, June 2018), the Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press, October 2018), and the Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (Globe Pequot Press, May 2021).

Related Posts

New Paltz is a de facto sanctuary community for undocumented immigrants
Politics & Government

New Paltz officials continue to transition away from mechanical meters

October 3, 2023
One billboard in Lake Katrine
Environment

One billboard in Lake Katrine

September 29, 2023
Elting Library Fair honors Sally Rhoads and Carol Roper
Community

Woodstock Library plans a spatial transition

September 27, 2023
Town of Ulster volunteer EMS workers eligible for a ten percent property tax exemption
Politics & Government

Town of Ulster volunteer EMS workers eligible for a ten percent property tax exemption

September 27, 2023
Woodstock contest for town supervisor proves contentious
Politics & Government

Report exonerates McKenna, but doubts remain

September 27, 2023
Woodstock’s Comeau property needs maintenance help
Politics & Government

Woodstock going underground

September 28, 2023
Next Post
No more fares for UCAT travel

No more bus fare: UCAT free as of October 1

Trending News

  • Miller Middle School approves deployment of resource officer for 2023-24 school year 1k views
  • Library for sale: desirable central Woodstock location available 773 views
  • Report exonerates McKenna, but doubts remain 657 views
  • Gilberto Nunez, Kingston dentist acquitted of murder but convicted on other charges, set loose 528 views
  • One billboard in Lake Katrine 412 views
  • A successful Hudson Valley food co-op tells its story 409 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
70°
Sunny
6:55 am6:35 pm EDT
Feels like: 70°F
Wind: 2mph SSE
Humidity: 72%
Pressure: 30.17"Hg
UV index: 5
WedThuFri
82/55°F
77/57°F
70/63°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

×
You have free article(s) remaining. Subscribe for unlimited access.
View Subscription Offers Sign In
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing