Jefferson County Farm Bureau President Steve Watson spoke on behalf of the 451 FB members in his county, at the meeting of the Jefferson County Board of Legislators Finance and Rules Committee Meeting on Feb. 27, 2007. The following are his remarks.

Good evening, my name is Steve Watson and I am here tonight to speak to you on behalf of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau. As President of the county’s largest farm organization, it is an honor to speak on behalf of my fellow landowners.

Chairman Gray and others of the finance committee, I thank you for this opportunity to share with you the position of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau as it relates to your discussions concerning the extension of the 3/4 percent increase in the county sales tax. As you may or may not remember, our organization supported this increase in 2004 and for the same reasons that we supported it then, we support its extension now.

We believe that the use of the sales tax to fund government expenditures is the most broad based and most equitable way in which to fund government.

Not only does sales tax generate revenue from all that take advantage of the services that it provides but sales tax revenue is also captured from those that reside outside our borders.

As a farmer in Jefferson County, I applaud the legislature for your work in holding the line on county property tax rates and understand that if the sales tax increase is not continued, that most likely this trend will not continue. Many of you may or may not have recently read that agricultural land values in New York State as determined by the Office of Real Property in New York are slated to increase by 34%, this will drive my property tax bill up by hundreds of dollars.

At the same time that this is occurring, our farms are suffering through a third year now of depressed milk prices coupled with increased energy and fuel costs. Our farms cannot handle much more and to add on another tax increase in the form of higher county and town taxes will be the end for some of our operations.

Our 451 members of the Jefferson County Farm Bureau strongly support the action of the Jefferson County Board of Legislators to call upon our State elected leaders, Senator James Wright, Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, and Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava for the reauthorization of the 3/4 percent sales tax increase with no exemptions. The Jefferson County Farm Bureau opposes any sales tax exemption such as for clothing. The best way to benefit our local economy and everyone in our local communities is to reduce property taxes.