CARMEL – Republican Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne has blasted his counterpart in Ulster County, Democrat Jen Metzger, for proposing legislation that would result in Ulster’s wealthiest to pay an income tax surcharge.
If approved by the Ulster County Legislature and the State Legislature, the Fair Taxes Act would impose a 16.75 percent surcharge on income over $200,000 for single filers and over $400,000 for joint filers. The surcharge would apply only to income above those thresholds, not to total household income.
Byrne described the proposal as an “horrific idea setting a terrible precedent. The State of New York has an income tax. New York City has an income tax. Yonkers has an income tax. And now Ulster County wants to pile on another one.”
Byrne believes “no tax is worse than an income tax – it punishes work, success, and ambition. It tells people to earn less, invest less, and build less.”
The former state assembly member added, “In a state already ranked near the bottom for economic outlook, this is exactly the kind of policy that drives people and jobs out. New York doesn’t need new income taxes. It needs intervention.”
Byrne said state lawmakers “need to kill this idea now: As long as I am Putnam County Executive, we will never create a new income tax.”
Deputy Ulster County Executive James Amenta fired back at Byrne, saying, “I don’t think Ulster County taxpayers look towards a county where people pay more in property taxes and with a higher sales tax rate for advice on how to make the lives of working-class residents easier.”
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