The Peru Gazette

Source: Burlington elementary schools expanding to four days of in-person classes – VTDigger

Source: Legault Is Begging Quebecers To ‘Please Stay Home’ – MTL Blog

Source: City & State Coronavirus Update

Source: St. Peter’s, Ellis hospital systems agree to merger proposal

Source: Tribe considers name change to align with Mohawk culture | NCPR News

Source: Don’t forget: Friday (Oct. 9) is the deadline to register to vote in NY | NCPR News

Here are today’s Clinton County COVID-19 case updates. One additional lab-confirmed positive case reported today, and one individual moved to recovered category. Currently 12 active cases in Clinton County.

Source: Syracuse University limits gatherings after surge in coronavirus cases – syracuse.com

Source: Youth Big Game Hunt coming up this weekend – – The Adirondack Almanack

Source: 8 ways to see the Adirondack’s awesome fall colors

Source: New city-run news source raises questions for South Burlington – VTDigger

Source: Hundreds of cattle die in Beekmantown barn fire

Source: Siena Poll shows support for limits on High Peaks use – – The Adirondack Almanack

Source: Rutland, Danville schools to discuss mascot changes

Source: Community rallies after late night blaze at Beekmantown dairy farm | Sun Community News BEEKMANTOWN | As word of a devastating barn fire spread, fellow farmers and neighbors rallied behind Bubbins Farm and turned out in mass to help rescue animals and aid

Source: As COVID spreads, Warren County reminds residents to stay vigilant, socially distant | NCPR News

Source: Stefanik has cash advantage over Cobb in final stretch of heated NY-21 race | NCPR News

Report Finds Increased Dependence on Revenue
Stream Heightens Fiscal Risk

New York’s municipalities collected nearly $17 billion in sales tax revenue in 2019, representing 9.7 percent of all local government revenue, according to a comprehensive report on local sales tax released today by State Comptroller DiNapoli. Every county and city in the state, along with many towns and villages, depend on these funds to pay for essential services and operations, revealing the statewide impact of the revenue losses from the pandemic.

“COVID-19 has decimated local sales tax revenue this year, blowing holes in the budgets of municipalities across New York State,” DiNapoli said. “As we work to rebuild our economy, we must also help repair the damage that has already been inflicted. Just as our Main Street small businesses can’t rebuild alone, our local governments don’t have the means to do this themselves. Direct aid from the federal government is needed to help our communities recover.”

Counties and cities outside New York City were the most dependent classes of local government on sales tax revenue, at 28.7 percent and 18.9 percent of total revenue, respectively. In 2019, New York City collected nearly $8 billion or 47.4 percent of all local sales tax revenue, although it only made up 8.7 percent of total city revenue.

Excluding the amounts they share with other local governments, counties received $6.7 billion, or 40 percent, of all local sales tax revenue in 2019. Over the past two decades, counties have become increasingly reliant on sales tax revenue, as it has grown at a faster average annual rate (3.5 percent) than all other revenue sources combined (1.8 percent) from 1999 to 2019. This has heightened counties’ fiscal risk since sales tax can be a volatile source of funds during uncertain economic times.

DiNapoli’s report found that 46 of the 57 counties shared nearly $2 billion in sales tax revenue with other local governments within their borders in 2019, with significant variations in how much they share and how it is allocated between cities, towns and other local entities. Thirteen counties shared more than 40 percent of their sales taxes, including Monroe (63 percent), Jefferson (53 percent), and Cayuga (49 percent). Conversely, seven counties shared less than 10 percent. The 36 counties with cities within their borders shared an average of 30 percent of their sales tax revenue.

The state has increasingly been tapping local sales tax collections for various purposes. In the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2019-20 Enacted Budget, $59 million was directed to be withheld annually from counties’ collections to make unrestricted aid payments to most towns and villages, permanently shifting this burden from the state for these State Aid and Incentives for Municipalities payments, also known as AIM payments. A portion of New York City’s sales tax revenue was directed to be withheld to fund a Central Business District Tolling Capital Lockbox for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, at $127.5 million in SFY 2019-20 and $170 million in SFY 2020-21, increasing by 1 percent annually going forward.

The SFY 2020-21 Enacted Budget further reduced sales tax distributions to counties outside New York City by $50 million annually for the next two years, to be put in a State fund for financially distressed hospitals and nursing homes. New York City will have $200 million in sales tax distributions withheld each year for the next two years for the same purpose. In prior years, sales tax intercepts had been used in only a few places, and only to assist specific counties and cities with their own fiscal stability and debt security.

These state reductions have at least partially offset recent positive impacts on local sales tax revenue, including a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to require online retailers to collect and remit sales tax regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the state, along with a provision in the SFY 2019-20 Enacted Budget that requires online marketplaces, such as eBay and Etsy, to collect and remit sales tax to New York on behalf of third party sellers.

DiNapoli has been monitoring and reporting actual local sales tax revenues on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis to help local communities and policy makers stay informed about this important revenue source.

Report:
Understanding Local Government Sales Tax in New York State

Health Officials Concerned as Local COVID-19 Cases Increase

Plattsburgh, October 6, 2020. Local health officials are urging residents to not become complacent in the fight against Covid-19. As many businesses and schools in our region have reopened, many residents are resuming more “normal” daily activities. Health officials fear that this return to “normalcy” has given many residents the impression that the risk of Covid-19 has decreased. As a result, many residents are increasing their social circles and becoming more lax in their mask-wearing, social distancing, and handwashing efforts.

“Covid-19 is in our community. As much as we all want this to be over, the risk of COVID is still present,” stated John Kanoza, Director of Public Health in Clinton County. “Already this week we have seen nine new lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19, bringing our current total number of active cases to twelve. What has been particularly evident with our most recent cases is the lack of apparent connection between cases. These cases are not associated with one specific gathering, event or location but dispersed throughout our community.”

Community spread means people have been infected with the virus in an area, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected. “While we routinely provide case updates for Clinton County that reflect cases identified through testing, there are certainly many more individuals throughout our community with COVID-19, including both those without symptoms (asymptomatic) and those attributing symptoms to a different ailment,” added Mr. Kanoza.

While some have looked to the relatively low number of deaths associated with COVID-19 in Clinton County to minimize the severity of the virus, Mr. Kanoza cautions residents to reconsider. “One death due to COVID-19 is one too many. These are people, our friends and neighbors, with families who are suffering unnecessarily—these deaths could have been prevented. In addition, researchers are only just beginning to learn about the long-term health complications that COVID-19 causes.”

Recent hospitalizations also have health officials concerned. “We have seen a significant uptick in hospitalizations from COVID in the last two weeks. Aside from our concern for hospitalized patients, we know that hospitalizations are just the tip of the iceberg of cases in the community. We had a very mild summer and I am afraid we have been lulled into some complacency around masking and social distancing and avoiding high-risk situations. Please, wear your masks and do the things we all need to do to be safe,” urged Wouter Rietsema, Vice President for Population Health and Information Services and Infectious Disease Physician at the University of Vermont Health Network- Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH). “Two weeks ago we [CVPH] had one patient admitted with COVID-19, and now we have seven,” noted Dr. Rietsema.

Health officials reiterated that the most effective way to keep our community safe is to continue the practices that have been emphasized from the start. “We must continue to physically distance (6 feet) ourselves from others, wear masks, wash our hands frequently, avoid crowds, and stay home when we’re sick. Our desire for this pandemic to be over does not make it so. It is up to each and every one of us to continue doing our part to keep those at greatest risk in our community safe,” added Mr. Kanoza.

Source: Onondaga County shocked, in a good way, by $10 million increase in sales taxes – syracuse.com

Source: Young people play important role in Climate Smart Community achievements – – The Adirondack Almanack