To the Editor:

In addition to the informative article “Governor wants internet tax” in the March 8 issue of The Altamont Enterprise, it should be noted that Albany County politicians have known for years that Albany County has not and does not now receive its proper share of online sales taxes.

This is because out-of-state online merchants collect New York State sales taxes, which they in turn send to the state’s tax department. The tax department then credits the county based on the five-digit ZIP code of the purchaser. The last four digits of the ZIP have no relevance to identify the correct address of the resident. Those four digits are used only by the United States Postal Service to plan the most convenient delivery route for the mail carrier irrespective of county of residence.

There are hundreds of homes in Guilderland (in Albany County) that have a Schenectady ZIP code. Sales taxes collected from those Guilderland residents are then distributed by the state’s tax department to Schenectady County based on that ZIP.

And all municipalities in Albany County receive less of a share as a result since the county share of the tax pot is that much smaller. One way to correct this injustice is for those Guilderland homes to be assigned an Albany County ZIP, which would require the Albany County legislators to finally address this matter.

Gerard Houser

Coordinator

Guilderland Community Gardens