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Ulster County legislature votes to seek state permission for "Fair Taxes" home-rule request after hours of public comment
Summary
After more than two hours of public comment and extended floor debate, the Ulster County Legislature voted to approve a home-rule request asking the state for authority to consider a resident income surcharge on high earners; the measure passed 15–8 and does not itself impose a tax.
The Ulster County Legislature voted to send a home-rule request to the New York State Legislature asking for authority to consider a resident income surcharge on high-income county residents, a step supporters said is needed to begin state data collection and long-term planning. The resolution, known as the Ulster County Fair Taxes Act home-rule request (Resolution 2‑95), passed after a long roll call, 15–8.
Supporters framed the vote as a procedural move that would not raise taxes immediately but would give the county access to state income-tax data and the longest possible window for public review and technical fixes. “This vote is not the final purchase,” one sponsor said during debate; passing the home-rule request, they argued, opens a due-diligence period with state analysts and public hearings before any local law could be enacted.
Residents and advocates packed the public-comment period and presented sharply divided views. Dozens of speakers who said they rely on SNAP, Medicaid and other county programs urged passage, arguing the surcharge would affect roughly 1% of households and protect services for vulnerable residents. “We cannot allow critical programs to go without funding, so we need to find the money somewhere,” Jenna Goldstein, an Ulster County community organizer, told the legislature in support.
Business groups and many small-business owners urged caution or opposition, warning the surcharge could harm donations to nonprofits, discourage relocation or investment and be perceived as a new local income tax. Scott Davis, chair-elect of the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce board, said the chamber’s board opposed the home-rule request for those reasons.
Several legislators who opposed the home-rule request called for additional independent analysis, clearer treatment of pass-through business income and safeguards for longtime homeowners who might face tax effects after an unusually large capital gain. Others pressed for guardrails: higher thresholds, business carve-outs using the state’s pass-through entity election, sunsetting of any surcharge and strict rules governing how revenue would be used.
Opponents succeeded in a motion to delay at an earlier point, but the motion to refer the request to Ways & Means was defeated on the floor. After extended debate, the legislature adopted the home-rule request 15–8. Majority officials said the vote preserves a full public process and urged that any future local tax would be subject to further hearings, state review and a separate vote before it could take effect. The sponsors noted that, if approved by Albany and enacted locally, the earliest effective date would be 2028.
Next steps: the county will transmit the home-rule request to the state (the legislature’s action is a formal recommendation), request data from the state Department of Taxation, and schedule additional public outreach. Any local surcharge would require later local legislative action and public process before becoming law.
