BY JIMMY LAWTON
North Country This Week

St. Lawrence County legislators will take up a resolution Monday that would allow Ogdensburg to collect and keep more of the sales tax revenue generated within its limits, but city officials are condemning the county’s efforts.

If approved, the state would keep half of the 8 percent of sales tax generated in Ogdensburg while the county and the city would split the remaining 4 percent.

As it stands now, the City will preempt the county on sales tax collection, which allows the city to keep only half of 3 percent sales tax generated within the city limits.

The city had sought to collect the entire remaining 1 percent local share, which is currently collected and kept by the county. But the city was unsuccessful in attempts to secure home rule legislation at the state level to allow that.

The resolution proposed by the county would allow the city to collect 50 percent of that additional one percent.

Sales tax sharing has caused major tension between city officials and county legislators over the last several years.

In a press release issued by county Treasurer Renee Cole, she says the decision to share additional sales tax is to help the city restore public safety positions to the fire and police departments, which have seen significant cuts in recent years.

“Citing the loss of sales tax revenue by the City, the City of Ogdensburg announced its intention to implement drastic cost cutting measures, which included a reduction of staffing at both the Ogdensburg City Police Department and the Ogdensburg City Fire Department. The failure of the City to obtain the additional sales tax has been cited by the City administration as resulting in the elimination of four (4) fire department positions and three (3) police department positions,” Cole said in the prepared statement.

“Part of this fight has even made its way to Albany as the subject of a recent appellate decision known as City of Ogdensburg v. Ogdensburg Firefighters Association Local 1799. County Legislators and the County Treasurer, aware of the safety and security issues faced by the citizens, intend to try to bolster police and firefighting operations through an infusion of sales tax funding. Given the need to protect the citizens of City of Ogdensburg, the Board of Legislators hopes to increase funding targeted towards retaining those positions necessary to meet minimum staffing requirements for fire safety and to provide for appropriate policing staffing levels.”

But City Manager Stephen Jellie is rejecting the county’s narrative.

“The City of Ogdensburg applauds the relentless efforts of St. Lawrence County Legislators David Forsythe and James Reagan to bring a fair and equitable agreement on the distribution of sales tax collections and the City eagerly awaits the details of St. Lawrence County’s latest proposal since their original plan to reduce the City’s share of sales tax by 50%, or $1.6M in revenue for 2022,” he said. “The City has been down this road several times with County Officials in the past 18 months promising a deal, only to have all efforts rejected when the votes were cast by the full Board,” Jellie said in a prepared statement. “The press release contains few financial details so it is impossible for the City to comment until after Monday’s meeting of the Finance Committee. If the proposal actually passes, City Council will review and provide an immediate response.

“Of note in the proposal is the County once again attempting to manipulate how the City of Ogdensburg governs itself and uses it resources (Public Safety). County Administrator Ruth Doyle, Board Chairmen William Sheridan, County Attorney Stephen Button and Legislator Joe Lightfoot have yet to hire a leader and provide adequate resources for the County Department of Social Services that has been embattled since a scathing report was issued last summer detailing widespread abuses and mismanagement within the department; County leaders criticism of the City is just their weak attempt to deflect the failure and inability to correct the issues.”

The county’s release includes comments from several county officials, including Kevin Acres, R-Madrid, who City Manager Stephen Jellie has repeatedly accused of attempting to hurt the city through a reduction in sales tax.

“The recent proposal by Ogdensburg City Manager Steven Jellie to staff only three firefighters per shift is reckless and dangerous to not only the firefighting personnel responding to an incident but also to the residents of the City of Ogdensburg. This County resolution, which authorizes the 50/50 sharing of the final one percent of sales tax generated within the city limits, will provide financial security to the residents of the City so that public safety will be maintained in the best interests of their community,” said the press release from the county treasurer.

Jellie said Acre’s claims to care about public safety are insincere and that Acres led the county in its efforts to cut the city’s sales tax.

“Interestingly enough, it was Kevin Acres that complained at every Sales Tax meeting about the exorbitant contracts awarded to City Police and Fire unions and how the previous Mayor and City Council were abusively spending all the sales tax money and making County union negotiations impossible; now Kevin Acres is concerned about Ogdensburg Public Safety – no he is not, he is trying to bail Renee Cole out of the mess he helped her get into,” Jellie said.

The release notably contains statements from Ogdensburg’s fire and police union’s presidents as well.

“The County's recognition of the undeniable impact of the deep cuts made to public safety in our City shows their true concern lies in the well-being of the people they represent,” Ogdensburg Firefighters Local 1799 President Jason Bouchard said, adding that it was “a refreshing display of leadership.”

Ogdensburg Police Benevolent President patrolman Charles Shaver also offered appreciation.

“The funding will help alleviate the stress and workloads that our officers are currently under due to the reduction in staffing,” he said, adding that more officers would allow the department to be more “proactive in the community.”

Jellie was particularly critical of the St. Lawrence County Treasurer in his released statement. Jellie said she’s played “no role” in the sales tax distribution matter and accused her of “attempting to re-write history and act as if she did.”

“Renee Cole did attend one meeting of the Sales Tax Working Group with the sole purpose of surprising City Officials that the City was in arrears to the County for over $825,000 in delinquent Property Tax payments; the timing was certainly not a coincidence and she was well scripted that day too. Upon investigation, the Skelly Administration uncovered that County Treasurer Renee Cole and former City Comptroller Timothy Johnson failed to address this matter in previous years by establishing a repayment agreement – some of the debt is 20 years old,” he said.

He further criticized Cole and County Attorney Stephen Button for suing the city over a local law regarding property tax foreclosure jurisdiction. That lawsuit was filed by the county and initially dismissed, but the county has since appealed and was granted an expedited hearing set to take place in April. He also blamed the county for hurting city taxpayers who were forced to pay their county taxes in January rather than April due to changes in collection made by the county in response to the city’s local law change.

Although the resolution by the county can’t mandate how the city spends the funding, the resolution notes “this additional revenue will be provided to assist the city with their efforts to improve fiscal health while not compromising public safety.”

The resolution also includes language noting that the county reserves the right to modify or terminate the allocation of county sales tax revenue to the city if the state dictates a different allotment or if the city “takes alternative action to repudiate the receipt of these funds.”

St. Lawrence County Chairman Bill Sheridan extended credit for the resolution to Legislator Jim Reagen and Dave Forsythe who have been working to secure additional sales tax funding for the city.

The finance committee meeting is set to take place Monday, if it passes there, it will need approval from the full board in February.

​​The city’s press release can be read in its entirety at https://www.scribd.com/document/555587224/City-of-Ogd-Release

The county’s press release can be read in its entirety at https://www.scribd.com/document/555587360/SLC-Release-regarding-sales-tax-resolution