MAYVILLE – Minority leaders in the Chautauqua County Legislature are praising the recent news that the State of New York has dropped its portion of the clothing tax as of April 1, 2012. Chautauqua County is now the only county in Western New York, and one of only ten counties in the state, to have no sales tax on clothing and footwear costing less than $110. Chautauqua County enacted a permanent exemption on the clothing tax in 1999. In addition, at 7.5 percent, Chautauqua County has the lowest sales tax rate in Western New York and no sales tax on residential energy.
Legislator and minority leader Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) says Chautauqua County’s retail businesses will benefit from the unique status as a county in Western New York State with no clothing tax. Cornell also praised former County Legislator Maria Kindberg who successfully pushed the permanent clothing tax elimination nearly 13 years ago.
Both Cornell and deputy minority leader Bob Whitney (D-Jamestown) are also against raising the county’s share of the sales tax, saying it wouldn’t be helpful to local taxpayers or businesses. The two say the county should look at other ways to reduce cost to tax payers, including consolidating or sharing municipal services.
County executive Greg Edwards is calling on a sales tax increase to help offset a $14 million budget gap in 2013.
Leave a Reply