Politicians Doing Un-Politician Things.

• Author: Rowland, Tim

This year, Essex County--New York's second largest county by size but seventh smallest by population --received $7 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). That's more than $200 for every man, woman, and moose in this wild and mountainous vacation paradise.

This is in addition to the personal stimulus checks the federal government handed out to people who may or may not have been damaged by the pandemic, as well as the hundreds of thousands of dollars the 37,000 people of Essex County are privy to courtesy of the ongoing opioid settlements, and the millions in COVID rescue funds that have been awarded to small towns, school districts, and hospitals nationwide.

Grant money for specific public projects has been flowing like wine, and every other day it seems the county's representatives in Washington are calling to remind residents that millions of dollars in earmarks are once again out there for the taking.

When the pandemic hit with full force in the spring of2020, people stopped going to stores. That was of little consequence to Essex County, which does not have any stores. OK, a few. But what New York did have was a shiny new tax on internet sales, and the local population--which ordinarily would have traveled to shop and generate sales tax revenue in more cosmopolitan jurisdictions like Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, and across the Vermont border in Burlington --was forced to shop and pay taxes at home.

About this time, people who were locked down in the cities realized the fresh breezes and wide-open spaces of the Adirondack Mountains greatly reduced the chances of becoming infected with COVID-19. They swarmed the region and filled thousands of houses and rooms that locals rent out to help pay their exorbitant school and property taxes.

These short-term rentals are taxed and --what do you know--at the height of the summer COVID surge, a long-planned increase to the Essex County room tax kicked in, showering even more cash on the region. Nonetheless, those who visited loved being here, and many decided to stay or at least buy a second home. Because of this, the county's mortgage and recording tax revenue became a gusher.

That's not all the bonanza that has hit county coffers, but you get the idea.

The 18-member board of supervisors leans heavily Republican, the way "Republican" used to be understood. They have unfailingly kind things to say about Rep. Elise Stefanik, whose congressional district includes the county, but...