A rebound in most New York county sales tax collections for the second half of 2014 is a credit positive, according to Moody's Investors Service.
A Jan. 22 New York State report showed that county sales tax revenues grew 2.3% in the second half of last year from to the same period in 2013. The figures exclude New York City, which exceeded the county average at 4.8%.
"These credit-positive results mark a significant improvement over the first half of the year, when total collections were flat compared with the first half of 2013," said Moody's analysts Robert Weber and Valentina Gomez in a Jan. 29 report.
Roughly three quarters of the state's 57 counties saw tax collections improve from the second half of 2013, which was attributable in large part to an improving New York economy, according to Moody's. Only six counties had sales tax declines compared to 18 in the same year-earlier period with the size of the losses also shrinking.
Over the full year, the counties with the strongest sales tax growth were Lewis, Sullivan and Columbia with all benefitting from increased tourism.
Four counties also increased their tax rates effective December 2013: Essex , Lewis, Hamilton and St. Lawrence.
While sales tax results improved across New York, collections in Long Island's A2-rated Nassau County ended 2014 with the steepest year-over-year decline, which will pressure its finances, according to Moody's. Nassau's 4.3% year-over-year decline marked $48.9 million decrease in revenues after the county had budgeted for a 4% increase over the 2013 budget, leaving a shortfall of $77 million. Sales taxes also comprise 38.4% of the county's proposed 2015 budget.
"Inclement weather from January to March contributed to the first-half decline, as did a slowdown in retail activity in 2013 after the surge following Superstorm Sandy," said Weber and Gomez. "Nassau's collections did improve as 2014 progressed, and may signal an eventual return to growth."
