Sales Tax Revenue Down by $5.7M

The numbers are in and the news is far from rosy relating to sales tax receipts in Putnam County last year.

On Monday members of the Putnam Legislature’s Audit Committee heard from Commissioner of Finance William Carlin, who presented his report for December as well as the county’s annual tabulation.

The good news is that, for the first time in nine months, sales tax receipts increased over the previous year, with cash registers ringing up sales tax that totaled $5,057,000 in December, as compared to $4,997,000 in December of 2008.

The modest $59,000 increase, though, didn’t do much for county coffers in 2009 other than the hope that the recession had finally ended in Putnam and consumer confidence would resume.

Putnam’s total sales tax revenues for the year gone by totaled $45,902,000— down from the $51,677,872 collected in 2008. The 2009 amount collected was even lower than the $45,988,000 garnered in 2007 by local businesses.

Carlin attributed the decrease to the economy: “Sales tax revenues are down across the state with every county now reporting a dramatic decline from the previous year. It’s been a rough year throughout New York State and Putnam County in general but the county remains healthy. We are fiscally solvent— not as strong as we used to be— but government is doing the best it can to provide services for those who need them.”

Carlin told the Courier that the county “runs on sales tax. For every dollar residents spend in their county that same dollar helps to reduce property tax. If the downward spiral continues, members of this legislature will be facing some difficult decisions in the months to come.”

Audit committee chairman Tony Hay looked at the positive side: “The increase in December was the luck of the draw. I like to tell myself that things are getting better. The Christmas holiday period was good for local business yet this county is still down big-time for 2009. We have a long road to travel.”

Legislator Sam Oliverio, the only Democrat on the nine-member legislature, said a $5.7 million shortfall was a “huge mountain to climb. We will be working diligently this year to remedy that number, and hopefully, a year from now, we will be in better shape.”

Legislator Dini LoBue, of Mahopac, who serves on the Audit Committee with Legislator Mary Conklin, of Patterson, called on her colleagues to seek out new revenue sources: “Relying on retail is not working. We have to look out of the box and come up with some creative solutions, which I intend to do this year as chair of the Economic Development Committee.”

Legislator Conklin again urged residents to “shop Putnam whenever you can. The situation is universal. The economy has taken a hit and people are saving their money and are only purchasing items that are absolutely needed.”

Legislator Tony Fusco, of Mahopac Falls, called on the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation and the Putnam Industrial Development Agency to initiate a program this year where properties would be purchased and “shovel-ready” commercial developments get underway: “The sales tax infrastructure is not doing it for us. We need corporate development that will bring sales tax revenue into the county. New avenues must be addressed to aid