New York’s Southern Tier was home to the strongest growth in county sales-tax collections in 2011, according to a report state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released today.
Sales-tax collections swelled 8.6 percent in the Southern Tier. That jump is due in large part to flood damage from Tropical Storm Lee, which forced residents to purchase goods and services, the report said.
Collections increased 4.8 percent in Central New York and 3.4 percent in the Mohawk Valley. They grew 5.4 percent in the Finger Lakes and 4.8 percent in the North Country.
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“The positive growth last year in sales-tax collections [is] a good sign for the economy, but continued caution is warranted,” DiNapoli said in a news release. “New York’s economy has improved over the past two years, but growth has been sluggish and unevenly distributed throughout the state.”
Outside of New York City, county sales-tax collections climbed 4.1 percent in 2011 to $6.79 billion. Collections outside of the city were $6.52 billion in 2010, which represented a 4.7 percent increase over 2009.
Including New York City, county sales-tax collections increased 5 percent in New York state in 2011. They had grown by 9.9 percent in 2010, but nearly a third of that growth came from a New York City sales-tax increase, the comptroller’s report said. Growth in 2010 would have been about 7 percent without that sales-tax increase, according to the report.
Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com