KINGSTON, NY – On Tuesday night, in a packed legislative session, the Ulster County Legislature voted 15- 8 on a resolution supporting the Ulster County for Fair Taxes Act. 47 Ulster County Residents signed up to speak in favor of the tax plan that would fill gaps in Medicaid and SNAP funding created by federal cuts to the services.
The measure approves a Home Rule request for the proposed Ulster County for Fair Taxes Act, legislation sponsored in Albany by Michelle Hinchey and Sarahana Shrestha.
“People are hungry for this,” said Jenna Goldstein, the Ulster County community organizer for For The Many, at a rally ahead of the vote. “Tonight’s the vote, and the number of people who turned out to show their support proves there is a real appetite out there to tax the rich.”
This resolution allows the county to ask the New York State Legislature for permission to implement a tax surcharge. The surcharge would be paid by taxpayers making more than $250,000 a year annually or $500,000 filing jointly. The 18.75% surcharge on New York State income tax would only apply to taxes paid on income over the set limit. Around 1% of households in Ulster County make income over this threshold. This plan would allow the county to fund Medicaid and SNAP without raising property taxes or sales taxes. For qualifying taxpayers, the surcharge would represent .5% to 2% of their income according to Goldstein. Goldstein said she believes this won’t have a large impact on these families’ budgets.
“The deck is unfairly stacked against Ulster County’s working families and people living on fixed incomes, who can barely keep up with the rising costs of basic necessities,” Metzger said in a statement. “Tonight’s vote by the County Legislature is about balancing the scales and ensuring that the responsibility of paying for essential services is shared more fairly.” said County Executive Jen Metzger.
She also said the proposal would help address “the millions of dollars in new safety net costs that the 2025 Trump budget is pushing down to counties to pay for federal tax cuts.”
The proposal does not create the tax immediately. Instead, Tuesday’s vote asks the state to grant Ulster County the authority to establish the surcharge through a local law. The state Legislature and governor must first approve the Home Rule legislation before the county could move forward with enacting the tax locally. If approved, it would not go into effect until 2028.
Many residents at the rally said these resources are necessary for survival. Gabrielle Annese, an Ulster County resident and intern for Assemblymember Shrestha grew up in the foster care system. She said that the community around her made it possible for her to survive when facing homelessness.
“I’m on SNAP. My daughter is on state health insurance. These aren’t luxuries. They are what let me keep my small family together while I finish school and build a future for us,” Annese said.
Many supporters said that they feel Ulster County is made up of people who want to help each other. Assemblymember Shrestha said she has received phone calls from wealthy constituents supporting the bill and she say she’s committed to fight for the bill as it makes its way to Governor Hochul’s desk.
“Our position as state legislator is that when a locality requests state authorization for something they wanna do, our default position is yes,” she said. “We know we have a fight ahead next year at the state level to convince the Governor to do this, but that’s why we wanna get the support very early to show that there is really a local appetite for it.”
Image Credit: Rebekah Hendricks