The Peru Gazette

Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) recently announced that he will prioritize providing easier access to health care and broadband internet services, particularly in rural communities, during the upcoming 2022 legislative session.

“New York’s rural communities have long dealt with unique struggles that continue to receive insufficient attention from the state government,” Assemblyman Jones said. “Rural health care providers suffer from high operating costs and a lack of state aid, while access to broadband in rural communities is hampered by unnecessary fees and bureaucratic roadblocks. I’ll always fight for legislation that addresses and alleviates these issues for the health and safety of North Country families.”

Currently, travel and delivery reimbursement rates for rural home health care providers do not adequately cover the costs of the services, as travel times are generally longer than they would be in larger cities. Assemblyman Jones’ bill would amend this oversight by increasing the Medicaid reimbursement rate for rural home health care providers to cover actual transportation costs (A.802). Additionally, current state law does not allow fire departments to recover costs from providing emergency medical services, forcing many to stop offering these lifesaving services due to the increased cost. To remedy this, Jones has sponsored legislation that would allow fire departments to recover these costs (A.534). Similarly, in order to help EMS agencies have greater access to funding opportunities, Jones sponsored a bill that would classify emergency medical services as “essential services” (A.8395).

In an increasingly virtual world, it’s critical that all New Yorkers have access to broadband internet services not only for entertainment but for job opportunities, school assignments and doctor’s visits, Jones noted. A recent report by the state comptroller found that 19.3% of households in the North Country lack reliable broadband access. In order to remove a potential roadblock to rural broadband access, Jones has cosponsored a bill prohibiting fees for the use and occupancy of the state right of way in an agreement with a fiberoptic provider (A.8287) and introduced a bill that would prohibit charging these fees for fiberoptic broadband projects funded by the federal government (Bill # Pending). Fiberoptic providers are the only utilities that are required to pay these additional fees.

The Town of Peru Water & Sewer Department will be closing Birchwood Drive between McDonald & School Street, today Monday, December 20^th  til approx 4 pm to fix a water line break.

There will be NO through traffic including Emergency vehicles during that time period.

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Statewide local sales tax collections grew by 17.5% in November compared to the same month in 2020, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. Overall, local collections totaled almost $1.6 billion, up $235 million from November of last year. Collections for the month were also notably robust when compared to pre-pandemic levels, up 9.2% (or $133 million) from November of 2019.

“As has been the case the past several months, November’s sales tax collections were greatly improved over last year,” DiNapoli said. “Although the bulk of holiday spending is expected to be reflected in December collections, November collections may have benefited from earlier shopping this year.”

New York City’s estimated collections totaled $696 million, an increase of 12.6% – or nearly $78 million – when compared to November of 2020. Nearly every county experienced significant year-over-year growth in collections for November.

Rockland County saw the largest increase at 51%, followed by Cayuga County (40%) and St. Lawrence County (32%).

During the last month of each calendar quarter, the state Department of Taxation and Finance reconciles quarterly distributions against what had been reported by sales tax vendors for the reporting quarter and adjusts payments to local jurisdictions in those months upward or downward accordingly. During the other months, including November, the payments are based on estimates. The next reconciliation will be reported in mid-January 2022 and will provide more information on the regional picture of collections for not only the fourth quarter (October through December), but for the entire calendar year of 2021.

Monthly Local Sales Tax Collections by County and Region (for detailed monthly breakdown)

Click here to view minutes as posted on the town’s website

Click here to view the minutes as posted on the town website. 

Town Clerk Dianne Miller announced her January 2022 tax collection hours:

Monday- 9am-2pm -January 3, 10, 24 & 31
4pm-6pm- January 10, 24 & 31
Tuesday- 9am-2pm
Wednesday- 9am-2pm
Thursday- 9am-2pm
Friday- 9am-2pm
Saturday- 9am-11am- January 29

At its November 22nd meeting, the board hired Jason Burl as a machine equipment operator in the highway department. At this meeting, the board waived the remainder of this probationary period moving his status to permanent. Town Supervisor Brandy McDonald stated, “He’s working. We don’t want to lose him.”

Highway Superintendent Michael Farrell has difficulty replacing his 2004 pickup because no sellers responded to the bid advertisement. As a result, the town readvertised the truck with a December 16 bid opening date. (Note – On December 20, Farrell told the Peru Gazette that no one responded to the second ad. He is trying to determine why no one is responding.

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          “Once again the Canadian government is implementing a testing requirement which will impede the North Country’s recovery. I join North Country leaders and business leaders in opposing this short-sighted and counterproductive policy change. These restrictions do not just impact the local economy, they also make it extremely difficult for folks to visit their loved ones during the holidays now that they have to scramble to find COVID-19 tests. It took us 19 long months of advocacy to end the ban on nonessential travel and it’s critical that we continue moving forward – not backward- and do everything we can to keep the border open in a safe manner.”

Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik released the following statement after Canada announced it will require a pre-arrival COVID-19 test obtained outside of Canada for all travelers entering regardless of their trip duration. “I am disappointed to hear that Canada is reversing their action to drop its testing requirement for Canadian travelers returning to Canada,” Stefanik said. “This is a step backwards in achieving parity for cross-border travel and will add an additional cost and burden on our Canadian neighbors seeking to travel to the North Country. Our communities have suffered enough from the closure of the Northern Border, and it is unnecessary to impose new restrictions that will further disrupt travel. I will continue to work to restore normalcy to our cross-border travel.” This announcement will go into effect starting December 21.

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