Dutchess County Comptroller Robin Lois today issued a special report on sales tax revenue for Dutchess County. Sales tax is the largest source of revenue for Dutchess County, accounting for nearly 41% of 2021’s total budgeted revenue. Dutchess County’s sales tax receipts began to increase in the last quarter of 2020, holding the total loss for 2020 to the $11 million reported by Comptroller Lois in September of 2020. This represents a 5.2% deficit compared to the 2020 adopted budget amount, and a 4.1% decrease from 2019 actual sales tax revenue.
“Sales tax revenue for the first four months of 2021 shows an increase of almost $10 million above 2020 and 2019 receipts for the same period, stated Comptroller Robin Lois. “This is a 20.8% increase from 2020 and 17.5% increase from 2019, and is good news for the County.”
Over the past few years Dutchess County’s sales tax revenue increased from close to $180 million in 2016 to over $208 million in 2019, an average increase of 5% per year prior to the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns. The 2021 Adopted Budget projects sales tax revenue of $205 million, a reduction of 2.9% from the 2020 budget. Sales tax revenue was estimated by considering State withholdings enacted in the 2020-2021 State Budget and a .75% economic retraction from 2019. “If this positive trend continues throughout the year as it indicates, 2021 revenue will likely exceed the adopted budget projections,” added Comptroller Lois.
The special report also analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on industry sectors in Dutchess County by utilizing taxable sales data provided by New York State Department of Tax and Finance. This information shows that industries hit hardest by the COVID Pandemic in Dutchess County were restaurants, gasoline sales, and hotels, while industries like internet shopping, building materials, computer system designs and computer equipment all saw significant growth.
A full copy of the special report can be found by clicking here (.pdf). Additionally, all of the data used in analyzing the impact on specific industries in Dutchess County can be found by clicking here (.xlsx).
