Saratoga County Looking To Increase Sales Tax

If you like to shop in Saratoga County because the sales tax is cheaper than Albany, Schenectady and Rennselaer Counties, that may be changing.

When you’re paying the sales tax when you shop in those counties, it will cost you eight percent.

With the possibility of raising the Saratoga County sales tax by one percent, when it’s combined with New York state sales tax, that would bring the total tax to eight percent. The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors is looking into raising the county sales tax from three to four percent. One percent doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you spend more at the store, the more you'll spend on the tax in the final sale. Considering that there are a lot of people that aren't getting raises at their jobs, any increase can hurt. Not to mention the people that are currently out of work.

According to a story in the Times Union, “The county is one of only five in the state that charges less than 8 percent sales tax for clothing under $110 dollars.” All this is because they want to close a budget deficit for next year. There will be a public hearing about the tax increase and overall preliminary budget at the county complex in Ballston Spa on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

The thing that bothers me about all these deficits (and not just Saratoga County) is why do hard working people have to pay for them? The people aren’t the ones that created these cash problems. Maybe I'm missing something. If I am, please let me know.