Sales Tax

Variation, Always Variation

December 22, 2014 County

Was running some quick numbers this morning and generated the attached graphic. By State Fiscal Year, it shows the percent change in sales tax distributions by the New York State Department of Tax and Finance to each county outside New York City. The data are indexed with each year showing the percent change from the […]

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NY Counties Sharing Sales Tax Revenue With Cities & Towns

December 3, 2012 Cities

There’s a little Albany debate going on on Twitter right now about which counties share more of their sales tax revenue with local cities, towns and villages. It’s part of the lead in to what’s likely to be a contentious meeting of the Albany County Legislature. Simultaneously, a couple members of the City of Albany’s […]

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Other NYS County Nursing Homes Being Sold

June 6, 2012 Budget

Despite intense objections, the Essex County, NY Board of Supervisors has voted 12-6 to sell its nursing home, Horace Nye. The 100 bed facility loses about $2 million per year. The sale price is $4.05 million. Essex County is also seeking an increase in its sales tax rate (from 3.75 to 4.0 percent). Mere coincidence? […]

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Oh, Maybe You Can Have That Revenue After All … For Now

May 16, 2012 Budget

For the past couple years, Albany County Legislators have been talking about keeping a much larger share of sales tax revenue for their own purposes and reducing the share passed on to cities, towns and villages. Many of those Legislators have such a proprietary sense of it that they call it “our money,” as if […]

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Role Reversal in Rockland County?

May 10, 2012 Bond Rating

So right after Moody’s downgraded Rockland County’s rating (a lot), the Republican County Executive Scott Vanderhoef blamed the local Senator, Democrat Sen. David Carlucci because he would not support an increase in the sales tax: We regret that State Senator Carlucci was unwilling to fight for the financial stability of Rockland County by passing the […]

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Recovering, but Not Recovered, Local in New York

April 13, 2012 Uncategorized

Sales tax receipts for each county in New York and New York City in the first quarter of 2012, ranked by percentage change from the first quarter in 2011. Eight counties showed a decline. Sales Tax Collections, Q1, 2012 First Quarter, 2012 First Quarter, 2011 Difference $ Q1, 2012 to Q1, 2011 Percent Difference Q1, […]

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“We’re on a Roll”

December 2, 2011 Budget

How could, “we’re on a roll,” not be the quote of the day for budget geeks, especially in New York? Last night, New York Citizen One (formerly Albany Citizen One, but now renamed in honor of her expanding empire) attended the Audit & Finance Committee of the Albany County Legislature as they finalized their budget […]

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Intergovernmental Money Movement, Especially Downhill

November 29, 2011 Budget

Little considered or included in public discussions of property tax caps, or limitations on governmental expenditures are intergovernmental financial relationships. This is not merely a matter of mandates but recognition that very large sums of money flow back and forth between all levels of government. What is expenditure for one level of government is often […]

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Too Conservative for Their Own Good?

November 14, 2011 Budget

Good grief! Historically, Saratoga County, NY has been among the financially tightest in New York. When we wrote about Nassau County being consistently on the high side of spending per capita among New York’s county governments, we could also see that Saratoga was on the low side. In particular, you can see a graphic view […]

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