Sales Tax Collections Down Again in NY, Mostly in NYC

Local governments in New York collected nearly $500 million less in sales tax from July to September compared to the same time last year, State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said Wednesday, marking a continued pattern of fiscal uncertainty for those municipalities.

While that’s not good news, it’s a significant improvement over the previous quarter, when local governments collected more than $1 billion less in sales taxes compared to last year.

“Still, collections are down, especially in New York City, and local governments are facing serious fiscal challenges,” DiNapoli said. “New York is resilient, but our local governments are hurting.”

He called on the federal government to come up with a plan for providing financial relief to local governments, which have been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 crisis between the decline in sales taxes and potential cuts from the state Division of Budget.

The drop in sales tax, according to DiNapoli, has hit hardest in New York City, where the economy has been slower to reopen than in other areas of the state.

From July to September, New York City reported a 22% decline in sales tax revenue, according to DiNapoli. Nearly every other region of the state saw at least some increase in sales tax revenue during that time compared to last year, he said.

In September alone, New York City saw a 43.9% decline in sales tax collections compared to the same month last year, according to DiNapoli. Sales tax collections in the rest of the state rose by 19 percent in September compared to the same time last year.

On the numbers, New York City collected about $1.61 billion in local sales taxes from July to September, compared to about $2.06 billion at the same time last year.

Both the Capital District and Southern Tier took a slight dip in collections from July to September, but the decline was by less than 1% in both regions. The Mohawk Valley reported the strongest growth, with 5.6% more in sales tax collections compared to last year.

Read the full report: https://www.osc.state.ny.us/files/local-government/publications/2020/pdf/2020-third-quarter-local-sales-tax-collections-down-9.5-percent.pdf