Friday, June 28, 2024 | St. Lawrence County, NY
BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI North Country This Week MASSENA — Despite a decline in fourth-quarter sales tax revenue compared to a year ago, the village of Massena still finished over the budgeted amount …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week
MASSENA — Despite a decline in fourth-quarter sales tax revenue compared to a year ago, the village of Massena still finished over the budgeted amount expected from sales tax.
According to Treasurer Kevin Felt, the village received 7.15% less compared to the year prior, however the village still received $545,457. The village’s total tax revenue for the 2021-22 fiscal year was $2,206,951.
Felt said despite the drop in fourth quarter tax revenue, the village still finished with 2.44% more than the year prior, a difference of $52,482.
Despite the good news, Felt said it’s difficult to gauge sales tax revenue in such an uncertain economy.
“I have no idea where the trend is going. I think everybody was kind of surprised with this last quarter. So, we’ll find out what the next quarter brings,” he said.
Felt also said stimulus funds could have prompted the rise in tax revenue, though with stimulus funds drying up it could lead to a possible decline in revenue for the village.
Inflation is also playing a central factor as well, as families continue to trim budgets and cut back where and when possible.
“I think another part of this too, I did read an article that talked about how the gas tax is being reduced. It’s obviously going to reduce the taxes that we receive, too,” Felt continued.
The village of Massena has also collected roughly 88.5% of all property taxes as of Aug. 12, Felt said.
“The percentage last year at this time was 91.39%. But those numbers are kind of skewed a little bit because we have re-levies in there this year for water that wasn’t there last year. So, that kind of skews the numbers,” Felt said.
Total collections to date are just over $6 million in property taxes, according to Felt.
The village will continue to collect property tax payments through September, at which point any unpaid taxes will be sent to the county for collection, Felt said.
According to Felt, the second notice will be sent to those who have not paid anything yet in the very near future, with those notices expected to be mailed in the coming days.
