GOSHEN – It is somewhat of a double-edged sword. County sales tax revenues are down because of COVID-19, yet the state is taking a cut of that income and diverting it to financially struggling hospitals.
In the case of Orange County, sales tax revenues are estimated to be down by $15 million in 2020, but the state is keeping $1.7 million of its income for those health care facilities.
County Legislature Ways and Means Committee Chairman Leigh Benton called that another funding mandate from Albany.
“As long as the state from Albany really doesn’t control their own budget, they are going to calculate what they believe they need every year and simply, as is seen what they are doing now, just keeping the money,” he said. “They calculate what they need and just take it.”
Benton said the state “doesn’t live up to its part of the bargain” as is the case with chargebacks from the community college. “They just typically just disregard what they plan to do for years and years.”