NORWICH – A brief rundown of some of Chenango County’s economic indicators show mixed results.
Overall profit tallied on Monday following this year’s tax sale of 45 delinquent properties is about half the amount that was gained in last year’s sale of 55 parcels.
Bids on three parcels in the main sale in July ended up forfeited, resulting in an actual gain over what was owed in outstanding taxes rather than the slight loss as previously reported. But after the final count, the amount taken in for 2012 was $385,000 compared to $714,000 in 2011, according to the tax department.
Deputy Treasurer Barbara Strier said a handful of properties in Chapter 11 represented a large amount to cancel out. The county upped the budget for legal work this year in order to go after people who engaged in serial filings of bankruptcy. Strier said the tax department is currently accepting new offers on a total of 12 parcels that were rejected or not bid on, through Sept. 25, with bids opened Sept. 27.
Other economic indicators of the financial health of Chenango County show improved sales tax collections, up 6.4 percent compared to this time last year. The county took in $1.52 million in July, and since January, collections are up 2.4 percent.
Unemployment remains a bit higher, with 8.5 percent recorded in July compared to 8 percent in July 2011. The number doesn’t reflect a 1.5 percent increase in the number of local jobs available, however. New York Labor Department Economist Christian Harris said pretty much every county in the whole state is up, primarily because more individuals have come back in pursuit of jobs.
“We have been tracking individuals who at some point in time weren’t looking for work, who fell out of our statistic and weren’t counted. Now we are seeing these people coming back into the statistic labeled as unemployed, buoying our unemployment rates,” he said.
While most towns have new construction every year, overall bricks and mortar growth is less, according to a preliminary report from the Chenango County Real Property Tax Services office. Raw assessments before exemptions for the City of Norwich and the county’s 21 towns are estimated to be .17 percent less next year and taxable values, .04 percent less. Taxable values are what’s used to levy the taxes themselves, and determine the budget.
A big portion of the assessment difference is from a reduction in natural gas well production in the towns of Plymouth, Preston and Smyrna. In Plymouth, for example, the reduction amounts to more than $1.5 million; in Smyrna, gas production is down nearly $854,000.
The wells could be tappering off as in the regular course of production, and production was down from periods of inactivity last year. The decline could also be the result of low market prices. “The rule of thumb is you lose some production after the first year, but there could be any number of things that resulted in the decline,” said Stephen Harris, RPTS director.
There were also adjustments to property for flood damages in Greene, a $1.1 million court-ordered deduction in taxes paid by Baille Lumber in Smyrna and some straight deductions - all which contributed to a decline in total assessment, he said.