The state Senate has approved legislation that will allow St. Lawrence County to increase its sales tax by one percent, in spite of a general opposition to raising taxes.

The Senate vote came early Saturday morning, after a positive Assembly vote earlier.

“The sales tax allows college students, tourists, Canadians and people traveling through the region to help pay for the cost of state mandated programs,” said St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators Chair Jonathan Putney.

The county has sought the increase for a couple of years, but some state legislators representing the county had expressed reluctance to raise the county’s taxes until this year.

“I continue to oppose raising taxes in St. Lawrence County or anywhere in the state,” said Sen. Patty Ritchie (R-Heuvelton).

“I respect ‘home rule’ because I believe that the best government is the government that is closest to its people. But I do not believe the role of state senator is to be a ‘rubber stamp’ for local officials, especially when it comes to the issue of taxes,” Ritchie said.

“This legislation will allow St. Lawrence County to enact what I believe will be the biggest property tax cut in county history,” Putney said.

“While it is clearly a victory for all property owners in St. Lawrence County, tenants will also benefit because landlords won’t have to pass on the cost of additional property taxes to them through an increase in their monthly rent.

“The property tax cut will happen in the first year to provide the maximum benefit to St. Lawrence County residents. In the following four years our plan provides stability by staying with the governor's tax cap.

“I want to thank Senators Patty Ritchie, Joe Griffo and Betty Little for doing their part to pass the sales tax legislation,” Putney said.

“St. Lawrence County has agreed to clean up its act, and stop kicking its problems down the road: the county has presented a plan that will immediately reduce property taxes by 14 percent, and assures that, even in five years, the county’s overburdened homeowners will pay $3 million less in property taxes than they do right now,” Ritchie said.

“Under the county’s five-year plan, every penny of increased sales tax revenue is to be returned to homeowners in the form of property tax relief, while also rebuilding the county’s fund balance, or ‘rainy day’ fund, which has been almost entirely depleted due to overspending. This latter reform alone should save county taxpayers millions of dollars in unnecessary borrowing costs,” said Ritchie.

“The county also has committed to a strict spending diet, which will limit the growth in its future budgets to about the inflation rate.

“These necessary reforms will not be easy to achieve and I, along with countless other county taxpayers, will be watching closely to see that the county sticks to its pledge,” Ritchie said.