Putnam will send revenue to towns, villages
On Monday (June 16), a day before its 2024-25 session ended, the state Legislature passed a bill to extend Putnam County’s 4 percent sales tax for two years and create a revenue-sharing program with its towns and villages.
It also extended Cold Spring’s authority to continue collecting a 4 percent occupancy tax and approved legislation expected to make Fishkill Creek eligible for more state grants.
The Assembly passed Putnam’s sales-tax extension and revenue-sharing program by a vote of 116-28, with support from Dana Levenberg, a Democrat whose district includes Philipstown, and Jonathan Jacobson, a Democrat whose district includes Beacon. A companion bill had already passed the Senate, 51-8, in May with support from Rob Rolison, a Republican whose district includes the Highlands.
Gov. Kathy Hochul still must enact the legislation, but with her signature, Putnam will be authorized to extend until Nov. 30, 2027, a 1 percent increase in its portion of the sales tax — from 3 percent to 4 percent — first approved by the state in 2007. A series of extensions have maintained the rate, but the most recent one expires on Nov. 30, at which point the county’s tax would revert to 3 percent.
With the extension, consumers in Putnam County will continue to pay an 8.375 percent sales tax, with 4 percent going to the state and 0.375 percent to the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District.
A bid to lower the rate began in April, when five county legislators voted to reduce Putnam’s tax to 3.75 percent amid a $90 million surplus. But County Executive Kevin Byrne vetoed the reduction and announced an agreement to share revenue with Putnam’s six towns and three villages if the 4 percent rate were extended.
Four of the five legislators acquiesced on May 19, endorsing the state legislation to maintain the 4 percent rate and send one-ninth of 1 percent of the proceeds to Cold Spring, Nelsonville, Philipstown and five other towns and villages.
For years, those municipalities have demanded a share of the sales-tax revenue; according to the state Comptroller’s Office, 50 of the state’s 62 counties have such arrangements. In Dutchess County, the 2025 budget includes $46 million in distributions, including $6.1 million for Beacon.
Under the new agreement, Putnam’s towns and villages will receive payments based on their populations and must spend the shared revenue on infrastructure. Each will receive at least $50,000.
Cold Spring
Rolison and Levenberg won passage of a bill that will extend for two years Cold Spring’s authority to tax room stays at hotels, Airbnbs and other lodgings. The bill passed the Senate, 47-12, on May 27, and the Assembly, 108-36, on May 29, with Jacobson also voting for its approval.
Cold Spring first won state approval to tax lodgers up to 5 percent in 2022, but the three-year authorization would have expired this year. It now expires on July 21, 2027.
In August, the Village Board approved a 4 percent occupancy tax that affects four establishments: the Cold Spring Hotel, Hudson House River Inn, Pig Hill Inn and West Point Foundry Bed & Breakfast. Mayor Kathleen Foley said the tax will eventually apply to short-term rentals, but “we’re starting with the small number of hotels and B&Bs, as defined by New York State law.”
Fishkill Creek
Fishkill Creek will be added to the state list of designated “inland waterways” if Hochul signs legislation passed unanimously by the Senate on June 4 and the Assembly on June 13.
Introduced by Rolison in the Senate and receiving Assembly support from Jacobson and Levenberg, the bill will make Beacon eligible for funding from the state’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and the Environmental Protection Fund. The programs provide money for planning, design, land acquisition and other waterfront projects for designated coastal water bodies (such as the Hudson River) and inland waterways.
Clarkson University last month received a $75,000 state grant to produce a watershed characterization for Fishkill Creek.
Other state-designated inland waterways include Wappinger Creek in Dutchess County and Lake Carmel, Lake Mahopac and Lake Nimham in Putnam.
