Sales-tax receipts rise in Central New York, most of state

ALBANY, N.Y. — Local sales-tax revenues rose across much of New York in 2017, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli reported Tuesday.

Rising consumer confidence and wages, as well as inflation, running at 2.1 percent in 2017, contributed to the increase, the comptroller’s report stated.

Counties and cities in Central New York saw increases, topped by an 11.55 percent rise in local sales-tax revenue in Oswego County.

Onondaga County saw revenues rise 2.34 percent, to $340.5 million; Broome County’s revenues rose 4.32 percent to $126.4 million; Oneida County’s revenues were up 3.69 percent to $137 million and Jefferson County saw revenues gain 1.98 percent to $75.1 million, per the report.

Cities in the region that report sales tax separately from counties also saw increases. Utica sales-tax revenues were up 4.18 percent to $10.1 million, Rome’s rose 6.75 percent to $7.5 million, Ithaca’s increased 6.41 percent to $11.5 million, and the City of Oswego saw revenues climb 9.06 percent o $14.2 million.

DiNapoli said local sales-tax collections across New York state totaled $16.6 billion, up $620 million from 2016. “The increase in 2017 was driven largely by growth occurring in the fourth quarter, which was nearly twice as much as each of the prior three quarters, and one-half higher than the fourth quarter of 2016,” the report stated.

Only one county in New York saw a year-over-year decrease in local sales-tax revenue. Putnam County, in the Hudson Valley, saw revenues drop 0.45 percent to $58.8 million. That was due to technical adjustments, the comptroller’s report stated.

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com.

Image credit: State comptroller’s office