new york state comptroller's office report on sales tax collection

8/9/2019 New York State Comptroller's Office Report on sales tax collection

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Statewide Trends

Total local sales tax collections in New York State grew by $439 million, or 3.0 percent, from 2013 to 2014.1This was less than the 2012 to 2013 growth of 5.2 percent, and the slowest annual growth since the end ofthe 2008-09 recession.

About 69 percent of the dollar growth in localsales tax collections took place in New YorkCity. The Citys sales tax collections grew by$304 million, or 4.8 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Although this was less than the 6.8 percentgrowth seen in 2013, it continued the pattern ofstrong sales tax performance in the City sincethe end of the recession.

The increase in county sales tax collections,excluding all cities, was 1.3 percent from 2013

to 2014 significantly lower than the 3.8 percentgrowth experienced from 2012 to 2013.

Importance of Local Sales Tax Revenue

The sales tax is a major revenue source for NewYork City and the 57 counties outside of theCity, which collectively receive 92 percent of alllocal sales tax collections.2

Sales tax made up 33.2 percent of county

revenues in 2013, the largest single countyrevenue source.3 Almost one-quarter of thesesales tax revenues were distributed by thecounties to other local governments, includingcities, towns, villages and school districts.

NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF T HE STATE COMPT ROLLER

Div i s i o n o f Lo ca l Go ve rn men t an d S ch o o l A c co u n t ab i l i t y

Thomas P. DiNapoli State Comptroller February 2015

Local Government Snapshot

Local Sales Tax Collection Growth Slows to 3 Percent in 2014;

Slowest Growth Since 2009

-6.0%

9.9%

5.2%

3.0%

-8%

-6%

-4%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

Average AnnualIncrease1999 to 2014:4.2%

Recessions

Percentage Change in Total Local Sales Tax Collections

Source: Department of Taxation and Finance; additional calculations by the Office of the State

Comptroller. Numbers not adjusted for tax rate or tax law changes. Includes New York City.

Sales Tax forCounty Purposes

25.7%

Sales TaxDistributions

7.5%

Property Tax24.0%

Other LocalRevenues

21.0%State and

Federal Aid

21.8%

County Revenue Mix, FY 2013

Source: Office of the State Comptroller. Excludes New York City.

Total Sales Tax: 33.2%


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Total Local Sales Tax Collections Regional Trends

The strongest 2014 sales tax performance was

in the North Country, where collections grew7.7 percent.4 Much of this improvement can beexplained by increases in sales tax rates in threeNorth Country counties that took effect in late2013, but were in place for all of 2014. Essexand Lewis counties increased their tax rates from3.75 percent to 4 percent, while the St. LawrenceCounty rate increased from 3 to 4 percent.5

In the Long Island region, sales tax collectionsdeclined by 1.4 percent from 2013 to 2014. Thiswas due in part to the wind-down of the rebuilding

efforts that followed Superstorm Sandy in late2012. Storm-related spending pushed LongIsland sales taxes to grow by 6.9 percent in 2013,and the 2014 decline may largely reflect a returnto more normal long-term collection levels.

Total Local Sales Tax Collections Quarterly Trends

Local sales tax collections grew by just 1.2percent in the first quarter of 2014 over the firstquarter of 2013. While some of this weak growth

may be due to reduced spending as post stormrebuilding entered its second year, slow growthwas considerably more widespread than theeffects of the storm and reflect a slowdown in thenational economy in that quarter (GDP decliningby 2.1 percent). In the second, third and fourthquarters sales tax growth improved to 3.5 and3.6 percent. This was still slower, however, thanthe 15-year sales tax trend of 4.2 percent year-over-year growth.

New Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e Co mp t ro l l e r


2

1.2%

3.5% 3.5% 3.6%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter

Change in Local Sales Tax Collections by Quarter, 2013 to 2014

Source: Department of Taxation and Finance; additional calculation by the Office of

the State Comptroller. Numbers not adjusted for tax rate or tax law changes.

Year-Over-YearChange

Year-Over-YearChange

3.5%2.6%

0.9%

2.1%

7.7%

3.0%1.9%

-1.4%

3.0%

4.8%

-2%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

Change in Local Sales Tax Collections by Region, 2013 to 2014

Source: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance; additional calculations by

the Office of the State Comptroller. Numbers not adjusted for tax rate or tax law changes.

Includes city and county general sales taxes.

Capital Central Finger Mohawk North Southern Western Long Mid- NewDistrict NY Lakes Valley Country Tier NY Island Hudson York

City

Upstate Downstate


3/4New Yo r k S t a t e O f f i c e o f t h e S t a t e Co mp t ro l l e r


County Sales Tax County-by-County Trends

Sales tax collections grew in 52 of the 57 counties outside of New York City from 2013 to 2014. The stronges

growth was in St. Lawrence County, where an increase in the sales tax rate from 3 to 4 percent helped spua 30 percent jump in collections. Hamilton County also increased its sales tax rate from 3 to 4 percent andderived 25.7 percent growth. Lewis County saw 12.9 percent growth, helped by a 0.25 percent increase in itssales tax rate. However, while Essex County also increased its rate by 0.25 percent, it only experienced a 6.2percent increase in collections.

Only five counties experienceda decline in their sales taxcollections from 2013 to 2014.The sharpest decline was inNassau County (4.3 percent),which was the center for

the effects of SuperstormSandy. The other countieswith collection declines wereClinton (0.2 percent), Genesee(0.2 percent), Oneida (0.1percent) and Seneca (1.4percent). Although some ofthese declines were due totechnical adjustments by theDepartment of Taxation andFinance to these countiessales tax distributions, much ofthe slowdown was the result ofweaker retail sales.

New York City

Essex

Erie

Lewis

St. Lawrence

Franklin

Hamilton

Ulster

Oneida

Steuben

Herkimer

Delaware

Clinton

Otsego

Jefferson

Warren

Suffolk

Oswego

Sullivan

Allegany

Orange

Cattaraugus

Cayuga

Tioga

Saratoga

Greene

Wayne

Broome

Chautauqua

Ontario

Monroe

Chenango

Dutchess

Fulton

Madison

Onondaga

AlbanyYates

Niagara

Wyoming

Schoharie

Cortland

Genesee

Tompkins

Orleans

Chemung

Schuyler

Montgomery

Putnam

Washington

Columbia

LivingstonRensselaer

Seneca

Westchester

Nassau

Rockland

Schenectady

Counties selection

Percentage Change

Decline

Increase less than 3 percent

Increase between 3 and 6 percent

Increase between 6 and 12 percent

Increase more than 12 percent

Change in Sales Tax Collections from 2013 to 2014

1 Sales tax collections data from New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Local sales taxes are those imposed for entities other thanthe State.

2 The remaining 8 percent of local sales tax collections are distributed to other cities, certain school districts, the Metropolitan TransportationAuthority (MTA) and other designated enti ties.

3 County revenue data is from the Office of the State Comptroller. 2013 is the latest year for which revenue data is available.4 Regional sales tax collections include counties and cities with a general sales tax, but exclude cities with a segmented sales tax, school districts,

the MTA and other entities.

5 The local rate is combined with the State rate of 4 percent to determine the overall sales tax rate for each jurisdiction.


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Albany 240,696,427 251,043,069 4.3%

Allegany 19,354,675 19,938,424 3.0%

Broome 121,604,076 121,885,268 0.2%

Cattaraugus 35,132,942 36,324,141 3.4%

Cayuga 33,450,332 34,969,534 4.5%

Chautauqua 53,123,275 54,739,518 3.0%

Chemung 56,691,648 58,839,279 3.8%

Chenango 20,452,167 20,964,900 2.5%

Clinton 53,354,709 53,253,846 -0.2%

Columbia 33,657,153 35,690,081 6.0%

Cortland 27,650,025 28,933,985 4.6%

Delaware 20,533,333 21,656,372 5.5%

Dutchess 165,945,207 174,154,357 4.9%

Erie 712,618,696 724,858,170 1.7%

Essex 26,147,472 27,758,244 6.2%

Franklin 20,816,772 21,794,349 4.7%

Fulton 18,568,805 19,329,489 4.1%

Genesee 38,057,036 37,994,929 -0.2%

Greene 28,604,034 28,941,513 1.2%

Hamilton 2,758,195 3,466,570 25.7%

Herkimer 29,400,199 30,017,997 2.1%Jefferson 71,365,541 71,951,035 0.8%

Lewis 10,469,928 11,824,281 12.9%

Livingston 30,229,388 31,128,489 3.0%

Madison 25,077,929 25,653,812 2.3%

Monroe 447,108,869 449,842,017 0.6%

Montgomery 28,183,071 29,173,148 3.5%

Nassau 1,138,834,701 1,089,890,346 -4.3%

Niagara 116,574,969 118,345,190 1.5%

Oneida 132,038,731 131,930,956 -0.1%

Onondaga 328,081,365 335,533,340 2.3%

Ontario 76,934,789 78,452,837 2.0%

Orange 258,819,005 260,772,530 0.8%

Orleans 14,819,905 15,703,363 6.0%

Oswego 41,125,357 41,724,500 1.5%

Otsego 34,691,684 35,796,293 3.2%Putnam 53,367,340 55,885,996 4.7%

Rensselaer 76,815,961 78,940,487 2.8%

Rockland 185,633,703 194,634,392 4.8%

St. Lawrence 43,455,544 56,476,979 30.0%

Saratoga 107,712,970 110,791,247 2.9%

Schenectady 90,715,706 94,275,742 3.9%

Schoharie 14,209,992 14,974,531 5.4%

Schuyler 9,618,470 10,106,417 5.1%

Seneca 23,243,814 22,914,096 -1.4%

Steuben 44,993,631 47,009,909 4.5%

Suffolk 1,281,871,707 1,298,023,398 1.3%

Sullivan 33,787,235 35,846,930 6.1%

Tioga 19,227,173 20,244,765 5.3%

Tompkins 47,395,629 49,648,449 4.8%

Ulster 103,274,569 103,489,188 0.2%Warren 48,836,237 49,404,038 1.2%

Washington 19,352,213 19,689,092 1.7%

Wayne 40,602,658 41,230,933 1.5%

Westchester 488,045,565 503,802,272 3.2%

Wyoming 16,831,191 16,853,447 0.1%

Yates 10,609,617 10,925,943 3.0%

TOTAL COUNTY 7,272,573,335 7,369,444,422 1.3%

New York City 6 ,349,043,149 6,652,693,276 4.8%

Other Local 1,244,139,445 1,283,042,562 3.1%

TOTAL LOCAL 14,865,755,930 15,305,180,260 3.0%

Source: New York S tate Department of Taxation and Finance

New York State Office of the State Comptroller

Local Sales Tax Collection Growth Slows to 3 Percent in 2014; Slowest

Growth Since 2009

2013 2014

2013-2014

Percent Change

Local Sales Tax Collections, 2013 to 2014

County totals include only county collections. Other Local includes collections for school

districts, Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Districts, and pre-empting cities.

new york state comptroller's office report on sales tax collection

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