To the Editor:
(Wampsville, NY – March 2013) Madison County is embarking on a “Buy Madison County: Calculate the Advantage” campaign to educate local consumers about the advantages of buying goods and services in Madison County. Local purchases have positive impacts on local businesses and also help Madison County and local municipalities raise increased sales tax revenue for local government services without relying solely on the property tax base.
By educating residents with our Buy Madison campaign, we plan to raise awareness about the importance of everyday purchases on our local economy. Filling up gas in Madison County, buying a morning coffee in your local community, making the effort to purchase gifts and clothing locally, and eating out at a local restaurant can all have significant impacts on local businesses and sales tax revenue that is used to support local programs.
We’ve estimated that if each resident over the age of 18 spent an additional $3.52 per day at Madison County businesses, the County could raise an additional $1.5 million in sales tax revenue. You can also support Madison County by using the Madison County DMV for your license, photo I.D., vehicle permits, registrations, plates, titles and transfers. Every local DMV transaction whether in person or by mail returns 12.7 percent of each transaction to our county, helping to keep county taxes down.
Buying locally ensures that your sales taxes are reinvested into Madison County. This helps to pay for services including parks, infrastructure improvements, emergency services, snow removal, local not-for-profits, and many quality-of-life projects in our communities.
The Buy Madison mission is to promote local purchasing of goods and services, from visitors and residents alike, to improve local businesses and to generate sales tax revenue for Madison County and its municipalities.
We have great business assets here, let’s help them thrive!
You can go to Buy Madison County Facebook or web sites for more information at www.buymadisonny.com / and www.facebook.com/BuyMadisonNY/.
Scott Ingmire, Director, Madison County Planning Department
Thank you to Martha Conway and the Madison County Courier for helping to get the word out and raise the awareness of the public on the importance of purchasing locally here in Madison County.