Schenectady County officials announced Thursday, Jan. 29, that the towns and villages in the county received $3.3 million in payments in 2008 from the portion of the sales tax each municipality receives from Metroplex. This brings almost $29 million to the total amount paid to towns and villages since Metroplex, a regional urban renewal agency, was started in 1999.
This payment represents the largest ever from the Metroplex portion of the sales tax, and we are pleased we are able to reinvest these funds back into our local communities, said Chairwoman of the Schenectady County Legislature Susan E. Savage, D-Niskayuna, in a written statement.
Metroplex receives one-half of one percent of the county sales tax. Thirty percent of this amount is reserved for towns and villages and is sent directly to them by the County Finance office. The remaining 70 percent stays with Metroplex and is used to help finance economic development projects in order to create additional sales and property tax revenue.
In 2008, the towns and villages in Schenectady County received record disbursements from the sales tax collected by Metroplex. All of the municipalities received more than in any previous year since the sales tax for Metroplex was instituted in 1999.
While many counties in New York experienced a decline in sales tax revenue last year, Schenectady County saw an increase of 5.86 percent. The rate of increase ranked seventh among New York’s 63 counties.
The amount disbursed to municipalities for 2008 are as follows, along with total funding received since 1999:
Rotterdam: $1,086,679 in 2008 up from $968,422 in 2007; $9.71 million received since 1999.
Princetown: $81,940 in 2008 up from $73,023 in 2007; $724,201 received since 1999.
Niskayuna: $778,754 in 2008 up from $694,007 in 2007; $6.87 million received since 1999.
Village of Scotia: $305,323 in 2008 up from $272,097 in 2005; $2.69 million received since 1999.
Glenville: $776,153 in 2008 up from $691,688 in 2007; $7.01 million received since 1999.
Delanson: $14,632 in 2008 up from $13,040 in 2007; $129,203 received since 1999.
Duanesburg: $208,101 in 2008 up from $185,455; $1.84 million received since 1999.
`We are pleased that the Towns and Villages are benefiting not only from new jobs and investment due to the work of the County’s economic development team, but they are also receiving record payments from Metroplex that can be used to reduce the tax burden on individual property owners,` said Ray Gillen, Metroplex chairman.
Check www.spotlightnews.com and future issues of this paper to find out more about what these local municipalities are going to do with their extra funds.“