Following the doubling of the hotel occupancy tax to four percent in January, the Ulster County Legislature at its June meeting earmarked a quarter of the revenue generated by the tax to housing initiatives, another quarter to the Ulster County Area Transit (UCAT) public transportation system, and ten percent to the county tourism department.
The allocation of hotel occupancy taxes to expanding UCAT service and addressing housing needs had been proposed by county executive Jen Metzger.
“The ten percent for tourism was in the old law,” explained Ways and Means Committee chair and majority leader Abe Uchitelle, who utilized a legislative tool called a petition to discharge to bypass an earlier four-to-three defeat in the Ways and Means Committee “We already spend much more than that, so it’s mostly an accounting concept, and it made my colleagues happy.”
A petition to discharge requires a number of signatures totaling three-quarters of the minority caucus. Originally meant as a check against the undue influence of committees against the minority party, this legislative tool grows more attractive to members of either party who feel stymied in committee. Uchitelle’s was the sixth petition to discharge so far this year.
As there are only eight Republicans in the legislature, Uchitelle only needed six signatures.
Uchitelle’s resolution was helped across the finish line by the support of three of his eight Republican colleagues — legislators, Gina Hansut, Tom Corcoran and Herb Litts. Two Democrats, Joe Maloney and John Gavaris, voted against the measure.
Minority leader legislator Kevin Roberts, who had voted against the original resolution in the Laws and Rules Committee, voted against its revived form as well.
“This is nothing more than … and I hate to use the words wealth redistribution, but it is,” Roberts said. “This possibly takes money away from other sectors of the budget. It takes money away from farmers and truck drivers and housewives and school teachers and puts it in one segment that benefits a few.”
First-term Woodstock and West Hurley legislator Jeff Collins ranked housing as a top county need. “We are currently spending over $10 million a year housing people in hotels and motels,” he said. “Having money dedicated to building houses to get people out of hotels and motels into supportive housing, affordable housing, and middle-class housing will save us money long-term. It’s a good investment for our community.”
Lloyd legislator Herb Litts, who joined most of the Democrats in support of the resolution, initially had reservations, “The influx of federal money is not sustainable,” warned Litts. “So we can’t get used to having these big budgets because that money is not going to be there.”
The last few county budgets have been flush with federal largesse from the Covid years — in 2026, “I believe at that point and time the county is going to have to raise taxes,” he reasoned, “After the federal money is gone, we’re going to have to learn to live in what we used to live on.”
He would have preferred putting a percentage of the taxes generated from the hike on hotel occupancy into a reserve fund to be used to offset future county increases in taxes.
For Uchitelle, who first expressed his vision to address housing justice through a dedicated housing fund in a September 2022 resolution, the legislature’s vote to replenish the fund annually was a satisfying culmination to years of effort.
Already operating, the housing action fund finished accepting applications over a two-month window ending May 10 from those looking for financial stimulus to aid in the construction, development, revitalization, and preservation of affordable and supportive housing units.
Uchitelle reported ten applications for the first round of county funding. The amounts of the grants to be awarded have not yet been announced.
“Being able to have a consistent stream of funding for housing and for transportation is really critical,” Uchitelle said. “Those are two areas that are really a matter of equity in our community.”
