Friday, August 14, 2020
Bill to let Orange County towns tax property sales to conserve land stalls in Senate
A bill that would allow Orange County towns and cities to tax property sales and use the proceeds to conserve open space remains stalled in the state Senate, with the county's two Democratic senators taking opposing stances on the proposal.
The Assembly approved the bill with almost no dissent in June and last year, but the Senate hasn't brought it to a vote. If enacted, it would let any Orange County town or city impose a real estate transfer tax — if approved by voters in a referendum — to generate funds to buy properties or the development rights to farms and other desirable tracts. State law now grants that option in Ulster, Westchester and Putnam counties.
Sen. Jen Metzger, a Rosendale Democrat who sponsored the bill and a similar one that added Ulster County last year, said in a statement Thursday that she wanted to help Orange County communities "protect irreplaceable farmland and open space from the pressures of development — pressures that are only growing."
Metzger introduced a separate bill in February to extend the same privilege to every town and city in the state except New York City. She argues that each municipality "should be able to determine for itself, through a local referendum, how best to protect these resources without having to come to the state legislature for approval in each individual case."
Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, said Thursday he had concerns about granting countywide authorization for transfer taxes because it could lead to thousands of dollars in additional closing costs for home buyers — in a state that already has the nation's highest closing costs.
"It costs too much for working- and middle-class New Yorkers to buy a home in this state," he said.
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