County Delays Sales Tax Distribution Proposal For Another Year – Homer Mayor Shares Opinion

During the Village of Homer Board of Trustees meeting last night, Homer Mayor Hal McCabe provided another update in what can be considered an uphill battle the Village of Homer and several other municipalities are having with the county regarding sale tax distributions.

Mayor McCabe says the ongoing negotiations continue, but for now, the plan for the county to take a larger share of the sales tax collections, has been delayed by at least a year. Something McCabe says is the county just “kicking the can down the road” instead of addressing what he says is a spending problem on the county’s end.

He continued on saying the county needs to look at their spending, again citing the county having one of the highest spending rates in the state. He added it seems the county has only been working with the City of Cortland regarding negotiations and not working with the other municipalities, including the Village of Homer.

If the county ends up going through with their planned decrease in sales tax distribution to county municipalities, projections show the villages share virtually cut in half by the end of the decade; forcing the village to make significant cuts or raise taxes by 40%. The Village of Homer wouldn’t be the only municipality to face either extensive cuts such as trash services, or even the elimination of the police department for the Village of Homer. Homer Town Supervisor Mike Park says the Town of Homer would have to face significant increases in taxes as areas where the town can cut is little due to the town already streamlined.

The Village of Homer currently has information available to residents regarding the ongoing Sales Tax Distribution negotiations on the village website, HomerNY.org. The village has also provided information on projected distribution, and current county spending along with contact information to the County Legislators currently working on the sales tax negotiations.