MONTICELLO — Not yet even a draft law, proposed restrictions on tobacco sales in Sullivan County generated controversy at Thursday's Health and Family Services Committee meeting of the Legislature.

Local health officials are contemplating:

• Hiking the minimum purchase age to 21

• Limiting promotional displays

• Prohibiting pharmacies from selling tobacco (which would include stores that have pharmacies within them, like ShopRite and Walmart)

• Restricting tobacco outlets from being close to one another or within 1,000 feet of a school

• Requiring stores to have licenses to sell tobacco, and reducing the number of those licenses over time

“We've got about 96 tobacco retailers in Sullivan County,” Health and Family Services Commissioner Joe Todora told legislators, adding that the aim of these proposed rules is to reduce the entry of youth into tobacco use.

Todora asked legislators to consider what exactly should go into the law - including how many licenses to offer - but he got pushback on the concept itself.

“This is more government, not less,” lamented Legislator Mark McCarthy, “and I'm damn well set against that!”

“My concern with that is this would force people to shop outside the county, and not just for tobacco,” worried Legislator Terri Ward.

“People sometimes just quit because it's too hard to go elsewhere,” posited Todora, but legislators remained concerned that an unintended consequence would be less sales in - and sales tax revenue for - the county, beyond tobacco products.

Not all legislators appeared against the idea.

“Orange County just passed this,” noted Legislator Cathy Owens, “and they're very happy with it, from what I understand.”

County Attorney Cheryl McCausland will prepare a comprehensive draft law from which legislators can pick and choose details.

“We're going to give you the whole enchilada,” said Todora, “and you can decide whether to add the guacamole or not.”

Sales tax continues climb

Treasurer Nancy Buck once again delighted in telling legislators that the county's share of sales tax revenues remains on the increase.

“The sales tax is up even more,” she affirmed, handing out a sheet indicating 2016's haul will come close to or even top $37 million.

That's more than $3 million higher than 2015, but Buck is not yet sure what has prompted such a rise.

Airbnb concern

Airbnb's agreement to have its rentals pay room tax to the county is in part responsible for a nearly $66,000 increase in room tax collections in 2016 versus 2015, agreed county officials on Thursday.

But Legislator Alan Sorensen wondered if that might not come with some unwanted liability.

“I have a concern we're going to collect revenue from a business not being regulated at the local level,” he told his colleagues, wondering if the county might bear some culpability if it collected room tax from an Airbnb facility where a building code-related tragedy occurred.

Sorensen wasn't referring to any specific incident, but he noted that unlike hotels, motels and bed-and-breakfasts, Airbnbs are typically private residences that are temporarily serving as lodging. Thus they are not subject to stricter codes for commercial structures.

County Attorney Cheryl McCausland didn't see a liability.

“The fact we collect a tax we're entitled to doesn't mean we're agreeing to the use of the property,” she pointed out. “... We, as a municipality, can't be held responsible for a violation of a local code.”

But that also means the county has no authority to shut down an Airbnb facility that is not compliant with town or village building codes.

“I think it means more dialogue with the towns,” affirmed McCausland.

“I'm not looking for the county to regulate [this],” added Sorensen, who predicted the state will find a solution.

Out and back again

Now that the county is reorganizing its Office of Sustainable Energy into the Department of Environmental Sustainability, Recreation and Beautification, the Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development's $60,000 annual contract with Sullivan has been allowed to expire.

However, said Research Analyst Heather Brown at Thursday's Agriculture and Sustainability Policy Committee, the nonprofit's familiar duo of Carol Roig and Stephen Stuart will be returning.

They'll become part-time county employees on January 17, earning around $25 an hour apiece to continue their work in identifying energy efficiencies and innovations in county government facilities and operations, along with promoting such to local municipalities and groups.

“We have $50,000 budgeted for both, which includes payroll taxes,” County Manager Josh Potosek told the Demo­crat. “Depending on workload, we may increase the allocation. We will know more later in the year as the office is fully up and running.”

“There's a [full-time] Sustainability Coordinator position that has not yet been advertised,” added Brown.

The Parks and Rec Director position is also up for grabs, having been relocated from the Division of Public Works (DPW). Its former tenant, Kristin Porter, is remaining with the DPW.