Sales tax revenues decline locally
By ZACH SUBAR, The Leader-HeraldJOHNSTOWN - Fulton and Montgomery counties have taken massive third-quarter sales tax hits, and county officials say fourth-quarter revenues are unlikely to provide much relief for already strained municipal budgets.
Sales tax numbers in Fulton County dipped in every municipality during the third quarter, according to statistics released Monday by county Treasurer Michelle Ippoliti. Total county sales tax numbers went down $601,543 this quarter, and the county itself took in $355,292 less during that period than it did during the same time last year.
The county's sales tax numbers dipped about $177,000 in the second quarter after its first-quarter sales tax revenues had increased by about $165,000 compared to its 2008 numbers.
Gloversville's sales tax revenues went down about $73,000, Johnstown's went down about $35,000, the town of Johnstown's decreased by about $58,000 and Broadalbin's went down about $45,000.
All that occurred during a quarter that is "usually the best quarter for Fulton County," according to county Finance Committee Chairman Jim Callery.
Ippoliti said the decrease's magnitude has left her "shocked." The county needs $5.5 million in fourth-quarter sales tax to cover its budget, and Ippoliti said she has only projected the county would receive $4.4 million during the time period.
"I really don't know what to expect," she said. "This really kind of caught me by surprise."
She said she had been hoping the federal government's Cash for Clunkers program, which ran throughout the tail end of the summer, would have helped matters, since it encouraged people to buy new cars.
The numbers also will affect town budgets. Broadalbin Supervisor Lee Hollenbeck said the town already has cut much of what it can, and said expensive state mandates also have affected budget planning.
He is now holding out hope for a good fourth quarter.
"I really didn't budget this much of a drop, because that's a big drop," Hollenbeck said.
Montgomery County's numbers were not much better. Because of a sales tax distribution adjustment that went into effect this quarter, which allows Amsterdam to reap a larger portion of the revenue than it had before, the city's third-quarter sales tax increased by about $32,000 in 2009.
But it was the only municipality in the county to record an increase. County Treasurer Shawn Bowerman said the county had not anticipated such a major hit-it lost $530,923 this quarter compared to last year. The total countywide decrease, including towns and villages, was $641,079.
"The county was expected to lose some, but not $500,000 in one quarter," he said.
Bowerman said he had budgeted conservatively for 2010, so he said the county should still be able to cover its budgetary costs.
Montgomery County's second-quarter sales tax had dropped by about $283,000 and its first-quarter tax had dropped by about $357,000 compared to the same quarters in 2008.
Zach Subar can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.
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JohnSteady
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11-02-09 2:28 PM
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Johnstown Movie Plex closed???? Remember the big fat raises the Board of Stupidvisor passed out to all their buddies? Who's going to foot that bill? Steady is already trying his best not to take the blame for any county employee that get's the ax...meanwhile he enjoy's his fat paycheck for no increased workload.
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Discobulous
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10-28-09 10:32 AM
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And sometimes you also get to screw the tax dept.
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GoGreen
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10-28-09 8:29 AM
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I know many people who on-line shop. I myself prefer shopping on-line because I save on gas, I don't spend the extra money on lunch out at the mall and I am less tempted to buy something I don't need. Most of the time the shipping is less than the gas and lunch.
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Discobulous
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10-28-09 8:13 AM
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The only two places with any decent quality goods in the county that remain are Peebles and Dundays. I buy from them to some extent but you have to go to Saratoga or Mohawk Mall in Schenectady to buy anything decent outside of those 2 stores.
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ipaymyway
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10-28-09 6:54 AM
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i know a ton of people that on-line shop or just find anyway to save a buck. walmart didnt crush the area. greedy owners selling out. and big buck politicians selling our country out overseas crushed the area. its funny people complain about the walmarts and k-marts, but they are always packed. it would be nice to go to the mom and pop stores, but when they are closed at 5 , you head to walmart.
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FactOrFiction
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10-27-09 10:47 PM
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Remember when?The Train went through Johnstown,Gloversville and Mayfield.Remember when Sears,Britts,Nichols,J.J.Newberry's Wolworths,Argisingers,Main St. in Gloversville was full of Businesses... Johnstown had Main St. Coles,Goulds,Grants,Family Bargin Center,White Model,Barkers, Jamesway, Holiday Theater,Johnstown Movie Plex which suddenly Closed.. Well it's 2009 and theres not many choices..Thats why Most shop in other cities and Counties.. What do we have now,Wal-Mart...Pebbles..And Dollar Stores...And Tons of Second Hand Stores..
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TiredOfTax
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10-27-09 10:39 PM
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Not only has Wal*mart's business grown throughout this recession it has been reported that the Ma and Pop retail stores in the wal-mart area have out preformed similar stores outside the areas convenient to wal-mart. Nothing beats manufacturing but sales tax in a nice income for a poor city.
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MountainMan
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10-27-09 8:57 PM
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Repeat after me: Retail will not save this community.
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whereareyounow
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10-27-09 8:52 PM
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swilliams, so you know of only 1 in 10 people in the area unemployed? That's interesting because I know of at least 1 in 5. Explain why then since the late 1980s that over 200K college educated people between 22 & 30 yrs old leave each yr mostly for the Southern states. You can look it up its fact just like your unemployment numbers. The fact is that only some areas of the economy are experiencing job loss such as unskilled positions. IT, engineering, technical research, technical sales & finance are all hiring like crazy with high salaries. If we want unskilled jobs to increase then we have to be able to compete with the world and since our corporate tax is 35+% 3rd highest among industrial nations that will never happen. Just like the glove industry, the jobs that left in the last few years are gone for good unless we change how we treat businesses. In the Northeast I don't see that happening, too many politicians benefitting from a welfare state.
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Genesis
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10-27-09 8:16 PM
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Hilltopper Walmart and Target Dis Ctrs have layoffs left and right. I do not know about the yogurt and cheese factories. Even if these places have jobs..can they hire every person around here that is currently laid off or unemployed and can all these people handle a factory job? It would be nice if they could but in reality not everyone is capable of that kind of work no matter how bad they need money and a job.There are places to work but no one has any job openings. If they do they are reserved for the handicapped,collage kids or high school kids. Some will even go as far as telling an applicant that they are over qualified for the position.
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Discobulous
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10-27-09 7:34 PM
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Staples coming? Good. I could use some staples, and maybe some scotch tape too. I agree with stockqueen 100%. Local merchants moan and groan about Walmart, but they don't want to stay open enough hours to make it convenient for most people to buy from them.
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Hilltopper
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10-27-09 7:23 PM
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Walmart Dis Ctr., Target Dis Ctr, and the yogurt and cheese factories offer a decent wage, but you have to be willing to work.
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Genesis
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10-27-09 7:07 PM
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How about more recently..The Movie Gallery right here in Gloversville. It did not close because people were not spending. It closed because the main corporation (even after all the revenue they made) could not afford the taxes. You need jobs around here but companies need to be able to stay here to create those jobs. If people had money they would spend it but you can not have money if you can not find work and if you do have money you are going to spend it where you can find places that meet your needs. There are not many if any places in Fulton county that can do that. If things keep going the way they around here this place is going to become a ghost town. Just another memory in a book.
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GoGreen
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10-27-09 6:19 PM
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Does anyone remember the Amsterdam Mall, Super Kmart in Amsterdam (with the pizza parlor next door), and Office Max in Amsterdam? They all closed. This area wasn't able to support them. Now they have a Super Walmart, Target and talk of putting in a Staples. Time will only tell if they will be able to "stay afloat" during these economic times in this area. One thing I do know, Target is very empty when I go in. No waiting in line there.
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teendude
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10-27-09 4:57 PM
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it's really sad when people equate a walmart supercenter to the second coming of christ.they're both coming to save us but i haven't seen either as of yet.
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nooneyouknow
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10-27-09 4:51 PM
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read the article above this one, the guy running doesnt really have any experience just some business management. and 13k a year. how can anyone dedicate themselves to their city if they have to work two jobs!! plus that was the first article i saw about local politicians usually i dont even know who is running or what they stand for other than signs on the side of the road. less than 15% of people vote in local elections so nearly anyone with a lot of friends can win. how do we hear about debates and who will do what?? so then we dont elect some people arent being indicted. and who knows how to get a mall here or get that walmart going. i buy a lot of things online, tax doesnt go here. and where will you go when you go christmas shopping uhh crossgates.
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rocky1
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10-27-09 4:33 PM
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Hey Preacher and DaveGibson, I didn't say I had the solution, but I do remember when there was employment in Fulton and Montgomery Counties, from Coleco to leather mills, to carpet manufacturing. Some of these companies went south, most went overseas. Maybe if someone visited with our old friends and offered them a deal to come home, starting small of course, they would start doing business again where they grew up.
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mikegville
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10-27-09 4:29 PM
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But the hour drive to Saratoga is so pretty, I'd hate to have to stop going there to shop..
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fultoncountyfan
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10-27-09 4:15 PM
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We shood leave WalMArt right where it is, I kind of wonder if its ever going to happen anyway. This is been in the mix for like 4 years andhas taken wat too lond. I tould be nice to see a nice sporting goods store. We need to devolpe STHWY 30a from harrason street north to STHWY 209a where we could put in some retail like Toys R US, , Golden Coral A.C More and places like that
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RWEHVNGFUNYET
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10-27-09 3:15 PM
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I can't wait for Wal Mart to come in ... They will solve ALL of our problems. Businesses will close as we shop at The BIG BOX. Our neighbors. who used to own small businesses, will all be saying "Welcome to.." at the front door. As for sales tax, I'd rather go and support Albany Co. or Schenectady Co. with my sales tax because, God knows, you can't get a deal in Fulton County. Written with tongue firmly in cheek.... But...I've heard the same phrases too many times from too many negative people.
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JeffreyR
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10-27-09 2:36 PM
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I have an idea. Why don't we raise property taxes to make up for the loss of sales tax revenue. What??? Tell me you don't think that this option is not going through their minds.
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ataxpayer
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10-27-09 2:17 PM
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What? The economy isn't "stimulated" yet!?!? "Pass this stimulus and unemployment won't go above 8%" hmmmm?" Here's a no-brainer - people have to have money to spend it. There's not much "spending money" left after paying taxes, bills, and groceries.
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swilliams
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10-27-09 2:11 PM
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whereareyounow uses southern states as an example of low unemployment, yet most of the southern states are worse off than NY. According to the September Bureau of Labor Statistics, NY is at 8.9%, Alabama 10.7%, Florida 11.0%, Georgia 10.1%, Kentucky 10.9%, Mississippi 9.2%, N. Carolina 10.8%, S. Carolina 11.6%, and Tennessee 10.5%. NY may be hurting, but so is just about everyone else.
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TiredOfTax
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10-27-09 2:08 PM
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Sales tax??? we do not need no stinking Super Wal*Mart! Lets get all the stores to limit what they sell. If this was a forward thinking town, Walmart would be paying us plenty from the new store by now.
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stockqueen
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10-27-09 1:31 PM
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In order to generate sales tax, you have to have sales. In order to have sales, a store has to be open to the general public. I will ask my question again to main street store owners....my hours of work are 8-5, Monday - Friday......"When is a working person supposed to shop downtown?" Store owners have got to start thinking outside the box.....there is too much competition these days....the customer will simply go elsewhere.....as they are doing!
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