NORWICH – Sales tax collections in Chenango County flowed back to regular levels in March, despite the nation’s faltering economy. First quarter results were only $32 down from the same period in 2008.
The slight loss was surprisingly far less than financial leaders had anticipated, said Chenango County Treasurer William B. Evans. The county was poised to lose $409,000 based on sales tax collections from January and February.
Evans said at the time that the nearly 6 percent drop was tentative and could be the result of a posting error. No errors were found, however. The treasurer suggested the amount could have been caught up in the state’s fiscal year-end reporting process.
“Uncharacteristic flows happen at the end of the state’s fiscal year from time to time,” he said.
Across the state, 36 counties are seeing reductions in sales tax revenue, 10 of them with declines of 8 percent or more, according to the New York State Association of Counties, an advocacy group in Albany.
“We are trending outside of the norm from what’s being seen statewide,” said Evans. Chenango County tends to lag behind the rest of the state when collections are headed down, but lags also when coming back out of recessions, he said.
The county raised $18.3 million in 2008, compared with $18.7 million in 2007, or 2.13 percent less. Even though sales tax receipts for the first quarter of 2009 were $4,396,365, and portend a lesser amount again at the end of this year, Evans said the first quarter always tracks low.
Chenango County lawmakers heard more good news from the treasurer’s office last Thursday at a meeting of the Finance Committee. An unanticipated $71,000 more in Tobacco Settlement Funds landed in its coffers in February.
This year’s annual allotment now stands at $907,000, about half of which has already been earmarked for the following purposes: tobacco awareness programs; operations at the Chenango County Public Safety Facility; new voting machines and related elections’ costs; the county’s contribution to Stop NYRI, the power line opposition group; and the Chenango County Historical Museum capital campaign.
Supervisors will have access to $363,000 to pay for unexpected costs of running the government this year, Evans said.
Chenango County’s portion of Tobacco Settlement funds filter down to the county annually from a 1998 federal settlement between the states and major tobacco companies. They are expected to continue through 2024.
The county received $822,551 last year, also an increase from past years.

County Office Building Roof
Just one of those unpredicted costs, however, could wipe out all of the county’s Tobbaco Settlement Funds, and then some. If estimates are correct, the price tag to replace the water-logged roof on the County Office Building could be as much as $600,000.
Members of the Finance Committee calculated a ballpark figure of $300,000 for a new roof and another $300,000 for asbestos abatement.
Referring to the asbestos material, committee Chairman Lawrence N. Wilcox, R-Oxford said, “The problem isn’t that’s it’s (the roof’s) a sponge. It’s what the sponge is made of.”
In order to safely remove the hazardous material, the building may need to be wrapped and the third floor, and possibly some surrounding structures, possibly vacated.
Committee member Wayne C. Outwater, R-Lincklaen said, “We’ll be lucky to find someone to do the job.”
Buildings and grounds officials authorized workers to core out a roof sample two weeks ago while they were repairing leaks in the court administration wing. They were surprised to discover that the four-inch plug was saturated down to the steel framing.
The original 1960s era roof was later covered with another roof in the mid-1990s. Town of Pharsalia Supervisor Dennis Brown asked whether the water could be dried out and a third, much lighter, membrane-type roof placed over top instead. The committee discussed whether the second roof was still under warranty.
Wilcox said he wanted to alert the committee that it may be necessary to fund a new roof.