Just wondering if I missed something as I try to read all the minutes of Croton's trustee board meetings and don't recall any discussion on this subject. Mind you, I think taxing short-stay rentals is appropriate but it seems an underhanded way to just say to my boss "hey Pete can you slip in this bill for a vote" without any public discussion. Is this the new method of getting things done?
Two years ago Pete Harckham sponsored an identical bill for the Town of Cortlandt, which includes the Village of Croton on Hudson. That bill was S7887. It is the same text recycled, but for the Village. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S7887. That bill was signed by the Governor and is already in force. So we have experience of this law already in the Village, through the Town.
My understanding is that this new bill would allow the Village to tax in addition to the Town tax. This would mean that a motel or B&B could now be taxed by the Village in addition to the Town for the same thing. It would not be either taxing, but both taxation from Town and Village.
Does this apply to any other villages or towns in our area or has Croton been singled out. If Harkham just introduced this bill on May 6th how could the Board discuss something that just came up.
So it’s important the read the story carefully because the answers are there, especially in Mayor Pugh’s statement. Due to the peculiarities of home rule, for Croton or any similar municipality to enact such taxes it needs to get state permission via this kind of legislation. Croton is not being singled out, separate laws are introduced every time a community wants to do this kind of thing. This law would only apply to Croton itself. The Board has no current plans to discuss this measure, it is apparently going to wait until it is passed (assuming it is) and then discussions might begin in the fall. If the question is, should the village have told everyone it was asking for this legislation to be introduced into the state legislature and not have it reported in the media first, then I would guess the answer would probably be yes in the minds of most villagers.
Thank you for explaining how the system works as a lot of us don't know the way it all happens.
It is very confusing for sure!
Just wondering if I missed something as I try to read all the minutes of Croton's trustee board meetings and don't recall any discussion on this subject. Mind you, I think taxing short-stay rentals is appropriate but it seems an underhanded way to just say to my boss "hey Pete can you slip in this bill for a vote" without any public discussion. Is this the new method of getting things done?
I recall no public discussion of this as well.
Seems a little self serving when his Chief of Staff is no other than Mayor Pugh.
@Michael is it only for Croton?
I understand it’s an additional Croton tax on rentals.
I would believe if approved, the village would also encourage more rentals through different avenues.
Approve more ADUs?
Do we want more rentals-AirBnB short term rentals in Croton?
What’s the real ramifications of this bill?
Thank you for the reporting.
Two years ago Pete Harckham sponsored an identical bill for the Town of Cortlandt, which includes the Village of Croton on Hudson. That bill was S7887. It is the same text recycled, but for the Village. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S7887. That bill was signed by the Governor and is already in force. So we have experience of this law already in the Village, through the Town.
My understanding is that this new bill would allow the Village to tax in addition to the Town tax. This would mean that a motel or B&B could now be taxed by the Village in addition to the Town for the same thing. It would not be either taxing, but both taxation from Town and Village.
The Watergate Motor Inn has TAX ID 67.6-3-1. It is outside the Village of Croton on Hudson, and within Cortlandt Manor. You can see this on the official Tax Map: https://giswww.westchestergov.com/taxparcels/sectionmaps/cortlandt/tax_map_cor_67.06.pdf. Everything North of 15 Baltic Place is beyond the Village boundary.
Does this apply to any other villages or towns in our area or has Croton been singled out. If Harkham just introduced this bill on May 6th how could the Board discuss something that just came up.
So it’s important the read the story carefully because the answers are there, especially in Mayor Pugh’s statement. Due to the peculiarities of home rule, for Croton or any similar municipality to enact such taxes it needs to get state permission via this kind of legislation. Croton is not being singled out, separate laws are introduced every time a community wants to do this kind of thing. This law would only apply to Croton itself. The Board has no current plans to discuss this measure, it is apparently going to wait until it is passed (assuming it is) and then discussions might begin in the fall. If the question is, should the village have told everyone it was asking for this legislation to be introduced into the state legislature and not have it reported in the media first, then I would guess the answer would probably be yes in the minds of most villagers.
Would this tax be applied to the new affordable rental units?
Please read the story carefully. These would be for very short term rentals like Airbnb‘s.