NORWICH – Sales tax collections in Chenango County ticked down .04 percent after the first three months of 2010, remaining relatively flat or about $176,000 less than during the same period in 2009.
Chenango County Treasurer William B. Evans said the results weren’t as even as they were proving after the first two months of this year, but the county’s municipalities that rely on the distribution most likely would not be impacted.
“It’s a volatile situation ... but not 6 or 8 percent, either,” he told members of the Chenango County Finance Committee last week.
The nation’s economic slump hit home last year when the county’s sales tax collections dropped 6.6 percent from 2008 to 2009.
Evans reported that $4,220,000 was taken in after the first quarter of 2010.
Not so great news arrived, however, with the county’s award of Tobacco Settlement Funds from the federal government. Tobacco monies are another important revenue stream used to administer government programs and services. They are down 16.8 percent this year.
The recent award was $754,868 compared to $907,074 in 2009. After subtracting $457,801 to offset taxes for Medicaid and for obligated anti-smoking initiatives, approximately $300,000 will fall to surplus.
The treasurer assured the committee that the county’s nearly $81 million budget for the year was “still in good shape.”