State to pay property taxes on Goosepond State Park

Senator James Skoufis (D-Hudson Valley) announced that he secured a provision in the 2021-2022 state budget requiring the state to permanently pay property taxes on Goosepond Mountain State Park to the towns of Chester and Blooming Grove.

Currently, the state pays taxes on every park under the jurisdiction of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission – except Goosepond Mountain State Park. Upon discovering this omission, then-Assemblyman Skoufis introduced a bill to correct the situation in 2017.

Revising the park’s real property tax status results in approximately $100,000 in new annual revenue for the impacted communities. Since his tenure in the Assembly, Senator Skoufis has fought to correct long standing wrongs on behalf of the Hudson Valley region he represents.

“One of my top priorities going into state budget negotiations this year was to provide local municipalities and residents with common-sense tax relief, and that’s exactly what this provision does for Chester and Blooming Grove,” said Senator Skoufis. “Simply put, Chester and Blooming Grove have been shortchanged by the state and local taxpayers have been forced to wrongly make up the difference in order to properly fund our local governments. That unfairness ends now. Not only does it make sense in a post-COVID economy to provide this financial support, but it is also a matter of equity, and I’m delighted that these municipalities and taxpayers will receive significant annual revenue through this provision.”

“I thank Senator Skoufis for working diligently throughout his years to get this across the finish line,” Chester Town Councilman Tom Becker said. “By receiving tax payments from the state on Goosepond, this will alleviate some of the town’s financial burden while protecting the taxpayers.”

Senator Skoufis plans to make additional budget and funding-related announcements in the coming weeks.