OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK STATE COMPTROLLER

THOMAS P. DiNAPOLI, STATE COMPTROLLER

First Half of 2017: Local Sales Tax Growth

Ticks Up Statewide
Statewide and
Regional Picture 15%
10.6%
Recession
For the first half of calendar 10%
5.7%
year 2017, local sales tax 5% 3.3%
collections were $8.0 billion,
a 3.3 percent increase over 0

the same period last year.1 -5%

This is a slight improvement
-9.0%
over the last several half- -10%

H1 2014
H1 2009

H2 2010

H2 2012

H2 2013
H2 2007

H1 2015
H2 2015

H1 2017
H1 2008

H1 2013

H2 2014
H2 2009
H1 2007

H1 2016

H2 2016
H1 2010
H2 2008

H1 2012
H1 2011
year periods. (See Figure 1.)

H2 2011
Every region experienced
growth, with only the Capital Sources:
Sources:New NewYorkYorkState
StateDepartment
Department of Taxation and and
of Taxation Finance with calculations
Finance, by the by the Office
with calculations
Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). Adjusted for a correction adding $238 million
of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). Adjusted for a correction adding $238 million to
District and Mid-Hudson to collections for New York City in the second half of 2015. Throughout this report H1 and H2
collections forand
New York City in of
the
refer to the first second halves thesecond half
calendar of 2015. Throughout this report, H1 and
year.
regions registering less than H2 refer to the first and second halves of the calendar year, respectively.

3.0 percent. This is different

FIGURE 1: Year-Over-Year Percentage Change in Local Sales
from recent years, when 00
Tax Collections by Half-Year
collections in many upstate
regions were quite weak. H1 2014 H2 2014 H1 2015 H2 2015 H
10%
(See Figures 2 and 3.)

Downstate, New York City 8%

Percentage Change Year-Over-Year

5%
4.5% 4.5%
had 3.5 percent growth, 4.4% 4.3% Statewide: 3.3%
6% 4.0%
better than its growth in 4%
3.5%
3.1% 3.3%
the first half of 2016.2 Long 3% 4% 2.7%
3.3%
Islands 3.3 percent growth 2.1%
is an even more substantial 2% 2%
improvement over last year. 1% 0
The size of that increase was
driven by 4.0 percent growth 0
-2%
in Suffolk County, which
North Country
Finger Lakes
Central NY

Mid-Hudson
Long Island
Mohawk Valley
Capital District

New York City

Southern Tier

Western NY
H2 2015

H1 2017
H1 2016

H2 2016

has had relatively weak -4%

collections until recently. Capital Central Finger Mohawk No
he
238 million District Upstate New York LakesDownstate Valley Cou
1 and H2 Statewide, economic factors
supporting these results
Source:
Source:New
NewYork
YorkState
StateDepartment
Department of of
Taxation andand
Taxation Finance withwith
Finance OSCOSC calculations. Upstate
calculations.
Includes county and city sales taxes.
Includes county and city sales taxes.
include continued low Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations. Includes county and city sales
one-time correction in the fourth quarter of 2015 that added $238 to the City's collections for that period.
unemployment and high FIGURE 2: Change in Local Sales Tax by Region
consumer confidence.3 Sales January-June 2016 to January-June 2017
015 H2taxes
2015were also
H1 2016
boosted byH2 2016 40% H1 2017 Gas Prices (New York State)
Motor Fuels Sales Tax
30% AUGUST19.0%
201713.5%
20%

10
 0

Perc
-10% -9.0% 0

Finger Lakes

North Country
Central NY

Mid-Hudson
Long Island
Mohawk Valley
Capital District

New York City

Southern Tier

Western NY
-5%

H1 2014
H1 2009

H2 2010

H2 2012

H2 2013
H2 2007

H1 2015
H2 2015

H1 2017
H1 2008

H1 2013

H2 2014
H2 2009
H1 2007

H1 2016

H2 2016
H1 2010
H2 2008

H1 2012
H1 2011

H2 2011
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with calculations by the -9.0%
Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). Adjusted for a correction adding $238 million -10% Upstate Downstate
to collections for New York City in the second half of 2015. Throughout this report H1 and H2
refer to the first and second halves of the calendar year.

H1 2014
H1 2009

H2 2010

H2 2012

H2 2013
H2 2007

H1 2015
H2 2015

H1 2017
H1 2008

H1 2013

H2 2014
H2 2009
H1 2007

H1 2016

H2 2016
H1 2010
H2 2008

H1 2012
H1 2011

H2 2011
Source: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations.
Includes county and city sales taxes.

H1 2014 H2 2014 H1 2015 H2Sources:

2015 NewH1 York State Department of Taxation and Finance with calculations by the
2016 H2 2016 H1 2017
Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). Adjusted for a correction adding $238 million
10% to collections for New York City in the second half of 2015. Throughout this report H1 and H2
refer to the first and second halves of the calendar year.
8%

6%

4%

2%

0
H1 2014 H2 2014 H1 2015 H2 2015 H1 2
10%
-2%

-4% 8%
Capital Central Finger Mohawk North Southern Western Long Mid- New York City
District New York Lakes Valley Country Tier New York Island Hudson (Adjusted)

Upstate
6% Downstate
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations. Includes county and city sales taxes. New York City's figures adjust for a
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations. Includes county and city sales taxes. New York Citys figures
adjust for a one-time correction in the fourth quarter 4%
one-time correction in the fourth quarter of 2015 that added $238 to the City's collections for that period.

of 2015 that added $238 million to the Citys collections for that period.
Gas Prices (New York State)

FIGURE 3: Year-Over-Year Change in2%

40%
Motor Fuels Sales Tax
30%

20%
Local Sales Tax by Half-Year and Region 19.0%
13.5%
5.3%
Actual Collections Adjusted for Inflation

growth in collections from sales of motor0fuels. They rose 19.0 percent in the first quarter of 2017
10

0 3.0%
2.7%

compared to the same period in 2016, and another 13.5 percent in the second quarter. As Figure
-10%
-20%
-2% rise in gasoline prices, from an average price of $2.14
4 shows, this increase tracked the recent
-30%
1.2%

-40%
per gallon in the first quarter of 2016 to
-4%$2.55 in the first quarter of 2017, and $2.58 by the second
Mar-2009
Jun-2009
Sep-2009
Dec-2009
Mar-2010
Jun-2010
Sep-2010
Dec-2010
Mar-2011
Jun-2011
Sep-2011
Dec-2011
Mar-2012
Jun-2012
Sep-2012
Dec-2012
Mar-2013
Jun-2013
Sep-2013
Dec-2013
Mar-2014
Jun-2014
Sep-2014
Dec-2014
Mar-2015
Jun-2015
Sep-2015
Dec-2015
Mar-2016
Jun-2016
Sep-2016
Dec-2016
Mar-2017
Jun-2017

10-Year Period Ending 10-Year Period Ending

in 2006 in 2016

quarter of 2017. Sales tax collections from motor

4
Capitalfuels represent
Central a higher percentageMohawk
Finger of total
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and United States Department of
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and U.S. North
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics with calculations by the

sales tax collections in most upstate counties than they do

District Newdownstate,
York possibly
Lakes reflecting
Valley
Energy, Energy Information Administration with OSC calculations. Quarterly gas price changes are
based on an average of monthly prices.
Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). The Consumer Price
Index (national, all urban consumers) was used to adjust for inflation. Country
more readily available public transportation downstate. 5

Upstate
Salamanca 14.7%
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations. Includes county and city sales taxes. N
Historical Perspective Rome 8.8%
one-time correction in the fourth quarter of 2015 that added $238 to the City's collections for that period.

Oswego 6.4%

While Ithacaan improvement 5.8%

40%
Gas Prices (New York State)
over recent years, 3.3
Gloversville 4.4% Motor Fuels Sales Tax
30%
percent growth is still
Mount Vernon 3.8% 19.0%
13.5%
20%
relatively modest compared
New York City 3.5%

Yonkers 3.1% 10
with increases seen before
Auburn 2.3% 0
the Glens
GreatFalls
Recession. 1.9% -10%
Between Utica 1996 and 2006, 1.9% -20%
the compound
Oneida annual growth 1.5%
-30%
rate forOlean sales tax collections 1.5%
-40%
statewide was 5.3 percent.
Mar-2009
Jun-2009
Sep-2009
Dec-2009
Mar-2010
Jun-2010
Sep-2010
Dec-2010
Mar-2011
Jun-2011
Sep-2011
Dec-2011
Mar-2012
Jun-2012
Sep-2012
Dec-2012
Mar-2013
Jun-2013
Sep-2013
Dec-2013
Mar-2014
Jun-2014
Sep-2014
Dec-2014
Mar-2015
Jun-2015
Sep-2015
Dec-2015
Mar-2016
Jun-2016
Sep-2016
Dec-2016
Mar-2017
Jun-2017

New Rochelle 1.2%

Over the next 10 years,

Johnstown 0.4%

White Plains -3.8%

growth slowed to a rate of Sources:New
Sources: NewYork
YorkState
State Department
Department of Taxation
of Taxation and Finance
and Finance and United
and United States Department
States Department of
Saratoga Springs -5.9%

3.0 percent,
Norwich
with
-7.3%
a similar Energy,
based
Energy
of Energy,
on are
changes
Information
Energy
an average
Administration
Information
based onof monthly
with OSCwith
Administration
prices.
an average
calculations.
of monthly prices.
Quarterly gas
OSC calculations. price changes
Quarterly are
gas price

spread in rates after

adjusting for inflation.6 FIGURE 4: Year-Over-Year Change in New York State Gas
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations.

(See Figure 5.) Prices and Motor Fuels Sales Tax Collections by Quarter
Salamanca 14.7%

Rome 8.8%

Oswego 6.4%
2
Ithaca 5.8%
y sales taxes. New York City's figures adjust for a

Internet Sales and

5.3%
Tax Collections Actual Collections Adjusted for Inflation

Some of the long-

term slowing in sales
tax collections may be 3.0%
2.7%
attributable to a shift in
consumer patterns. One
such shift has been the 1.2%
growth of online sales,
many of which are not
subject to state and local 10-Year Period Ending 10-Year Period Ending
sales taxes where the in 2006 in 2016
sellers have no physical Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and U.S. Department of Labor,
presence. New York and Sources: New Statistics,
Bureau of Labor York StatewithDepartment
calculations byofOSC.
Taxation and Finance
The Consumer and(national,
Price Index U.S.
Department of Labor,
all urban consumers) wasBureau of Labor
used to adjust Statistics with calculations by the
for inflation.
other states have been Office of the New York State Comptroller (OSC). The Consumer Price
working to address this Index (national, all urban consumers) was used to adjust for inflation.
FIGURE 5: Local Sales Tax Collections, Compound
challenge with partial Annual Growth Rates
success. Several large
online merchants are now required to collect New York State and local sales taxes. However, many
smaller sellers are not, including some that sell their products through major online marketplaces.
14.7%
Shopping Malls Struggle

Competition from online providers has also posed a threat to brick-and-mortar establishments,
especially in certain retail sectors. The shift from in-store purchasing to internet sales has had
a particularly strong impact on department stores and apparel and footwear retailers. Online
transactions account for 20 and 17 percent of total sales for those sectors, respectively.7
Some retail chains have been responding by closing a number of their stores, many of
which are located in malls.8

If malls begin to have more trouble renting space, the resulting losses could potentially further
compromise local sales tax and even property tax revenue. For example, after it lost two
anchor stores, the Hudson Valley Mall near Kingston defaulted on a $49.1 million loan in 2015
and was put into receivership. It later sold for roughly $9.4 million, a fraction of its $66 million
2015 property tax assessment, which the new owners are seeking to lower to $8.1 million for
2016. This reduction would lower the property tax bases of the Town of Ulster, Ulster County
and the Kingston City School District.9

3
 County Collections
As Figure 6 shows, in the first half of 2017, sales tax collections grew in 54 of the
57 counties outside of New York City. The strongest growth was in Oswego County at
16.7 percent. Cayuga (15.1 percent), Wyoming (12.4 percent), and Seneca (10.8 percent)
counties also had strong growth. Much of the growth in Oswego County was due to
technical adjustments.10 Given the relatively small size of total sales taxes collected
by these counties in a year, even modest shifts in dollar amounts can result in large
year-over-year percentage changes.

Only three counties had declines when compared to the first half of 2016: Hamilton
(3.9 percent), Putnam (2.8 percent) and Albany (1.5 percent). Part of the decrease in
Putnam Countys collections was due to a technical adjustment in the first quarter.
In Albany County, competition from recent big box retail expansion in surrounding counties
may be reducing retail traffic within the county. (For a list of county and city sales tax
collections, please see Appendix on page 6.)

FIGURE 6: Change in County Sales Tax Collections

January-June 2016 to January-June 2017
Clinton

Franklin

St. Lawrence

Essex
Jefferson

Lewis
Hamilton
Warren

Oswego
Washington
Orleans
Niagara Oneida
Wayne Herkimer Fulton Saratoga
Monroe
Genesee
Onondaga Montgomery
Schenectady
Madison
Ontario
Rensselaer
Erie Wyoming Livingston Cayuga
Seneca Albany
Yates Otsego Schoharie
Cortland
Chenango
Schuyler Tompkins
Greene Columbia
Chautauqua Cattaraugus Allegany Steuben Delaware
Chemung Tioga Broome

Ulster
Dutchess

Percentage Change Year-Over-Year Sullivan

Putnam
Decline Orange

Increase less than 2.5 percent Westchester

Rockland
Increase between 2.5 percent and 5 percent
Bronx
Suffolk
Increase between 5 percent and 10 percent Manhattan
Nassau
Increase more than 10 percent Staten Island

Queens
Brooklyn
Source:
Source: New YorkState
New York StateDepartment
Department of Taxation
of Taxation and Finance.
and Finance.
Note:
Note: Includes county
Includes County and
and New
New YorkYork
City City collections.
collections.

4
 -30%

-40%

Mar-2009
Jun-2009
Sep-2009
Dec-2009
Mar-2010
Jun-2010
Sep-2010
Dec-2010
Mar-2011
Jun-2011
Sep-2011
Dec-2011
Mar-2012
Jun-2012
Sep-2012
Dec-2012
Mar-2013
Jun-2013
Sep-2013
Dec-2013
Mar-2014
Jun-2014
Sep-2014
Dec-2014
Mar-2015
Jun-2015
Sep-2015
Dec-2015
Mar-2016
Jun-2016
Sep-2016
Dec-2016
Mar-2017
Jun-2017
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and United States Department of
Energy, Energy Information Administration with OSC calculations. Quarterly gas price changes are
based on an average of monthly prices.

City Collections
Several New York cities Salamanca 14.7%
impose their own sales
Rome 8.8%
tax, rather than receiving
Oswego 6.4%
a share of their countys
collections. Since these Ithaca 5.8%

amounts tend to be even Gloversville 4.4%

smaller than those of most
Mount Vernon 3.8%
counties (with the notable
New York City 3.5%
exception of New York
City), very modest dollar Yonkers 3.1%

shifts can result in large Auburn 2.3%

percentage changes.
Glens Falls 1.9%
For example, Salamanca
had the strongest growth Utica 1.9%

among cities at 14.7 Oneida 1.5%

percent, but the total Olean 1.5%

dollar amount of the
New Rochelle 1.2%
increase was less than
$43,000. Similarly, while Johnstown 0.4%

Norwich experienced White Plains -3.8%

the greatest year-over- Saratoga Springs -5.9%

year percentage decline
Norwich -7.3%
in sales tax collections,
at 7.3 percent, its total
Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations.
collections were just a Sources: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations.

little more than $57,000

FIGURE 7: Change in City Sales Tax Collections
short of the prior years
January-June 2016 to January-June 2017
first half.

Even larger cities are subject to fluctuations. Saratoga Springs decline of 5.9 percent
was largely due to a technical adjustment affecting the second quarter.

5
 Appendix: County and City Sales Tax Collections, First Half 2016 and 2017
Year- Year-
Over-Year Over-Year
Percentage Percentage
County First Half 2016 First Half 2017 Change City First Half 2016 First Half 2017 Change
Albany $127,134,087 $125,181,310 -1.5% Auburn $4,141,289 $4,236,249 2.3%
Allegany 9,055,211 9,689,620 7.0% Glens Falls 1,448,490 1,476,089 1.9%
Broome 59,011,867 61,385,145 4.0% Gloversville 1,617,166 1,688,617 4.4%
Cattaraugus 17,126,133 17,702,192 3.4% Ithaca 5,130,030 5,429,292 5.8%
Cayuga 16,217,183 18,661,544 15.1% Johnstown 1,830,769 1,838,614 0.4%
Chautauqua 29,046,613 30,533,194 5.1% Mount Vernon 9,237,841 9,591,245 3.8%
Chemung 27,450,654 28,091,654 2.3% New Rochelle 13,595,427 13,755,837 1.2%
Chenango 10,281,218 11,065,287 7.6% New York City 3,481,889,540 3,603,120,939 3.5%
Clinton 24,290,328 25,639,872 5.6% Norwich 788,856 731,529 -7.3%
Columbia 17,645,756 18,731,319 6.2% Olean 2,019,659 2,050,240 1.5%
Cortland 13,612,028 14,313,312 5.2% Oneida 2,316,362 2,351,777 1.5%
Delaware 9,793,665 10,358,414 5.8% Oswego 6,573,361 6,994,372 6.4%
Dutchess 85,819,368 88,958,516 3.7% Rome 3,410,345 3,710,704 8.8%
Erie 358,700,968 369,274,674 2.9% Salamanca 289,896 332,481 14.7%
Essex 12,221,726 12,714,674 4.0% Saratoga Springs 5,373,422 5,054,272 -5.9%
Franklin 9,838,108 10,530,543 7.0% Utica 4,853,462 4,943,625 1.9%
Fulton 9,674,474 9,906,649 2.4% White Plains 24,693,082 23,747,641 -3.8%
Genesee 17,522,082 18,016,121 2.8% Yonkers 42,952,655 44,271,886 3.1%
Greene 14,216,714 14,851,909 4.5% City Total $3,612,161,653 $3,735,325,409 3.4%
Hamilton 1,356,898 1,303,779 -3.9% Other Local 525,149,436 535,930,485 2.1%
Herkimer 13,971,643 14,647,130 4.8% Total Local $7,759,447,089 $8,015,420,395 3.3%
Jefferson 34,640,340 35,246,594 1.8%
Lewis 5,502,394 5,798,014 5.4%
Livingston 14,241,882 15,154,704 6.4%
Madison 12,666,196 13,153,400 3.8%
Monroe 228,575,986 236,964,100 3.7%
Montgomery 13,420,878 14,287,829 6.5%
Nassau 547,503,256 561,783,233 2.6%
Niagara 55,981,009 57,375,753 2.5%
Oneida 63,940,452 66,547,825 4.1%
Onondaga 161,702,678 164,535,330 1.8%
Ontario 37,968,546 38,541,677 1.5%
Orange 126,444,734 133,166,278 5.3%
Orleans 7,449,889 8,082,896 8.5%
Oswego 19,705,698 23,003,849 16.7%
Otsego 16,485,862 16,963,245 2.9%
Putnam 28,963,747 28,140,406 -2.8%
Rensselaer 38,637,223 40,869,765 5.8%
Rockland 101,390,184 103,291,456 1.9%
St. Lawrence 26,110,745 27,760,755 6.3%
Saratoga 55,672,569 56,659,022 1.8%
Schenectady 46,598,775 50,464,223 8.3%
Schoharie 6,783,674 7,158,705 5.5%
Schuyler 4,513,189 4,561,259 1.1%
Seneca 10,611,655 11,761,380 10.8%
Steuben 24,660,878 25,961,822 5.3%
Suffolk 632,426,423 657,421,282 4.0%
Sullivan 17,219,730 18,181,064 5.6%
Tioga 9,525,365 10,050,818 5.5%
Tompkins 22,817,286 24,352,529 6.7%
Ulster 52,653,641 54,929,547 4.3%
Warren 22,654,837 23,022,177 1.6%
Washington 9,340,780 9,401,896 0.7%
Wayne 19,902,972 20,719,461 4.1%
Westchester 248,378,272 253,263,253 2.0%
Wyoming 7,792,231 8,758,946 12.4%
Yates 5,265,302 5,273,148 0.1%
County Total $3,622,136,000 $3,744,164,501 3.4%
Source: New York State Department of Taxation and Finance with OSC calculations.

6
1
Unless otherwise noted, all sales tax collections data in this report are taken from the New York State Department of Taxation
and Finances AS570 reports. The AS570 reports distributions, which are called collections in this report. The rates shown
in Figure 1 have been adjusted for a major multi-year technical correction to New York Citys collections in 2015. For a more
thorough discussion of this adjustment, see OSC, 2016 Local Sales Tax Collections, (January 31, 2017),
www.osc.state.ny.us/reports/economic/2016-local-sales-tax-collections.pdf.
2
This adjusts for the multi-year correction mentioned above.
3
See U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/lau/ for State and regional unemployment
rates. Consumer confidence is measured by several entities, including the Conference Board, www.conference-board.org/data/
consumerconfidence.cfm, the University of Michigan, www.sca.isr.umich.edu/ and Gallup, www.gallup.com/poll/214430/
confidence-economy-remains-slightly-positive.aspx?g_source=ECONOMY&g_medium=topic&g_campaign=tiles.
4
United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, www.eia.gov.
5
OSC analysis of data from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
6
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Consumer Price Index for the U.S., all urban consumers was used to adjust for inflation.
No adjustments were made for changes in sales tax rates.
7
Robard Williams, et al, Moodys Investors Service, Credit Trends in US Retail and Related Sectors, (teleconference, June 21, 2017),
slide 16. E-commerce penetration is highest for office supply stores (50 percent) and auto parts retailers (30 percent). In contrast,
supermarkets were at 1 percent, making Amazons plan to acquire Whole Foods the subject of a great deal of interest.
8
Hayley Peterson, The Retail Apocalypse Is Having a Terrifying Impact on One Corner of Wall Street, Business Insider, April 10, 2017,
www.businessinsider.com/mall-investors-battered-by-stores-shutting-hurting-cmbs-market-2017-4.
9
William J. Kemble, Hudson Valley Mall Property Assessment Expected to Drop by 90%, Daily Freeman News, June 28, 2017,
www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20170628/hudson-valley-mall-property-assessment-expected-to-drop-by-90.
10
As used in this report, the term technical adjustments refer to any of a number of collection or distribution corrections made
by the Department of Taxation and Finance that are not related to current economic activity, such as late filings or errors caught
on later audit. See Department of Taxation and Finance, AS310 Quarterly Cash and Collection Distributions with Variances
for Assessments, Late-Filed Returns, Rate Adjustments and Prior Period Adjustments,
www.tax.ny.gov/research/stats/statistics/sales_tax/government/as310.htm.

7
Contact
Office of the New York State Comptroller
Division of Local Government
and School Accountability
110 State Street, 12th floor
Albany, NY 12236
Tel: (518) 474-4037
Fax: (518) 486-6479
or email us: localgov@osc.state.ny.us
www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/index.htm

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