Sullivan County Legislature urges state to extend tax authority, unanimously extends local sales tax through Nov. 30

The Sullivan County Legislature on May 29, 2025, opened a special meeting to urge the New York State Legislature to approve Senate Bill 5773 and Assembly Bill 8290 and voted to extend the county's sales tax through Nov. 30.

The presiding officer said the purpose of the special meeting was “to urge the New York State legislature to approve Senate Bill 5 7 7 3 and assembly bill 8 2 9 0, an act to extend authorization to impose certain taxes in the county of Sullivan.” The legislature then considered a short slate of resolutions and public comment.

Why it matters: The bills named at the opening of the meeting, SB 5773 and AB 8290, are described in the meeting as measures that would extend the authority for Sullivan County to impose certain local taxes; the county's action to extend the sales tax through Nov. 30 preserves local taxing authority while state action is pending. The meeting involved two formal local actions and a staff direction to send a letter backing a federal workforce program.

Sales-tax extension and vote

The Legislature approved a motion “authorize extension of sales tax until November 30.” Legislators requested a roll-call vote; the clerk recorded the following votes in favor: Nadia Rice (yes), Joe Perillo (yes), Matt McPhillips (yes), Brian McPhillips (yes), Nick Salamone (yes), Catherine Scott (yes), Louie Alvarez (yes) and Amanda Ward (yes). The presiding officer announced the result as unanimous.

Medical services agreement

Earlier in the meeting the body considered “Resolution 1, authorize agreement for medical professional services.” A motion was made and recorded as moved/seconded by Kat and Matt McPhillips; the resolution passed on a voice vote with members responding “Aye.” No roll-call tally for that item was recorded in the transcript.

Public comment and direction on Job Corps

During an open-forum comment period, Legislator Kat urged the Legislature to send a letter to Sullivan County's federal representatives in support of the Delaware Valley Job Corps program, saying the local Job Corps “employs over about 101 jobs in Sullivan County” and that the program “has an impact on our local economy.” Members voiced support; the body agreed to have a letter drafted and tracked with help from Dan Sturm, identified in the meeting as the head of the supervisors. The draft was not attached to the meeting record, and no formal resolution was introduced; the action in the transcript is a direction to send the letter.

Other items and procedure

The presiding officer reminded members of standing subcommittees created earlier: a tourism subcommittee (Matt, Kat, Amanda and Terry), a revenue-sharing working group with supervisors (Kat, Amanda, Brian and Louie), and a solid-waste subcommittee (Brian, Joe, Nick and Louie). The presiding officer said they would email Dan Sturm with the subcommittee names so supervisors could schedule meetings.

Meeting close

After the votes and brief discussion the presiding officer closed the special meeting.