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Finance Director Rick Snyder presented a positive year-end Sales Tax Report. While, receipts for the month of December were down by 7.8% (since they compared to an abnormally high increase for a year earlier), the County's portion of sales tax distributions for the fourth quarter of 2018 was up 1.33% from the prior year—the highest fourth quarter on record.

As of year's end, distributions for the County's portion of sales tax revenue totaled nearly $37.2 million, an increase of more than $1.9 million year-over-year, or 5.47%, For the year, Snyder reported that the County came in at more than $2.9 million over budget projections (or 108.% of budget) - the highest year for the County.


The Town of Lansing is benefiting from the trend as well.  In 2018 the Town received about $1,569,628 (estimated because December has not come in yet), up $94,000 from $1,475,217.96 in 2017.  The Village of Lansing's numbers are not finalized for the year, but sales tax revenue was up in the Village every month last year through Nocvember except March.

Just over a week ago DiNapoli reported that 55 of 57 New York counties have seen sales tax revenue rises. Across New York State sales tax collections of $17.5 billion grew by $872 million, or 5.3 percent. According to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. Dinapoli, every region in the state has experienced an increased annual growth rate in sales tax collections in each of the last three years, with the exception of the Finger Lakes, which slowed from a 4.9 percent spike in 2017 to 3.7 percent in 2018. Tompkins COunty is considered by the State to be in the Southern Tier region.

The City of Ithaca saw a 4.49% rise in 2018, from $11,452,021 in 2017 to $11,452,021.

Those revenues may rise even higher, now that the US Supreme Court has ruled on Internet sales. A report issued by DiNapoli in January says, "The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2018 ruling in the South Dakota v. Wayfair case gives states the ability to require online retailers to collect and remit sales taxes on goods and services regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the state.5 Now that the new standard has been determined, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has issued a notification that businesses with a certain volume of sales to purchasers in New York are required to collect and remit sales tax on those sales."

Snyder also provided the Casino Revenue Report for 2018's fourth quarter, showing the County's year-end Casino Gaming receipts at more than $1.9 million, up 13.2%, and more than $750,000 above the $1.2 million budget for 2018.

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