ALBANY – The legislation that would restore Orange County’s additional sales tax revenue to its municipalities arrived at Governor Kathy Hochul’s office on Friday morning.

The Governor has 10 days to sign the bill into law, and the expectation is that she will rubberstamp it. In May, it was revealed that the county had improperly distributed sales tax revenue to municipalities. The county has been sharing 3.75 percent of its sales tax revenue for more than a decade, though it is authorized to share only 3 percent.

This oversight could cost municipalities at least $20 million in 2026, and $5 million has already been withheld from cities, towns, and villages in the first quarter. If the legislation is signed, the County’s towns, villages, and cities will be reimbursed the full amount they have lost retroactively to January 1, 2026.

“I am glad that the Governor requested the bill to sign so it will become law before the July 20 deadline so that neither municipalities nor taxpayers will be hurt,” Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson (D, Newburgh) said. “All of us in the majority let the Governor know how important this was to be signed by that date. I’m glad we were able to move quickly and clean up the County’s mess.”

The County only learned of its decade-long sales tax error in early April when County Attorney Rick Golden’s Deputy, Carol Pierce, was informed of the oversight by the State Comptroller’s Office. The Comptroller’s Office said on Friday that it is “monitoring the situation, including the legislation that is before the Governor.”

The legislation arrived at Hochul’s desk after it was passed in the State Senate and then the Assembly just over a month ago. Senator James Skoufis (D, Orange County) and Assemblyman Chris Eachus (D, New Windsor) were the prime sponsors of the bill in Albany, with the county’s other lawmakers – Democrat and Republican, including Jacobson and Rob Rolison (R, Poughkeepsie) also backing the measure.

“The fallout wasn’t abstract,” Town of Monroe Supervisor Maureen Richardson said. “Municipalities cut back, services and celebrations suffered, and previous vetoes gave local leaders sleepless nights over losing $100,000 a quarter. If any initiative proved an ability to work for a constituency despite the barriers, this was it. Governor Hochul gave her word to the people of Orange County. It is time to take out the pen, deliver on that promise, and sign this bill so we can be made whole again.”