NORWICH – Chenango County’s sales tax collections were flat for the first month of the year compared to last January’s tally. The amount taken in was $1.305 million versus $1.307 million in January 2011, according to the county treasurer’s office.

It’s too soon to tell whether the report is a sign that the county’s economy has stabilized. Conversations with elected officials in the Village of Sherburne and Town of Norwich yesterday, for example, say businesses are doing well and jobs are available.

“Jobs are out there,” said Supervisor David C. Law, R-Norwich. “You just have to make people know you really want them, and go back to businesses to let them know.”