OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly says no “tangible progress” came out of a Thursday meeting regarding sales tax negotiations with St. Lawrence County officials, according to a press release issued by the mayor.

The talks were held Thursday morning in Canton and are aimed at hammering out a new ten-year deal for sales tax distribution in St. Lawrence County.

The city of Ogdensburg, under state tax law, may negotiate to determine what percentage of sales tax generated county wide is shared with the city or can instead to keep sales tax generated within the city limits instead.

St. Lawrence County also shares sales tax with towns and villages, but has no legal obligation to do so.

Skelly however is seeking to increase the amount of sales tax that towns, villages and the city receive and reduce the amount kept by the county.

“I’d say the first round of talks was cordial, but there was no tangible progress that I could see,” Mr. Skelly said in a statement. “The two sides, that being the county and the city of Ogdensburg, are incredibly far apart.”

“One of the main issues is that the county doesn’t feel like Ogdensburg has the right to negotiate for the towns and villages, and of course, we know that we do have that right,” Skelly said in his press release. “Another problem is that they want to actually take more sales tax money from the city by claiming our share should be based on population and assessed value as it is with the towns and villages. But again, they know that isn’t true.”

Skelly said the county is proposing to cut $180,000 annually in sales tax from the city of Ogdensburg over the next 10 years, but exactly what the county’s plans are have not been shared publicly.

“We are going to continue to negotiate for the towns and villages for a larger share, but if the county refuses then we will pre-empt, which is a term for the city collecting and keeping its share of sales tax generated within Ogdensburg, to include online sales.”

Skelly says he believes the city will end up with more money that it currently receives from the county if the sales tax generated by the city stays with the city, but no firm numbers have been presented by the county or the city publically in this regard.

“The next round of talks will be in one or two weeks and between now and then we are going to continue reaching out to towns and villages to educate them on the importance of the sales tax distribution formula that we are proposing,” said. Skelly said in the release. “We are fighting for them, and we are the only voice they have at this point.”