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Allegany County treasurer reports 4.2% dip in sales tax receipts; committee compares multi-year trends
Summary
Treasurer Terry Russ told the Allegany County Budget Committee sales tax collections are down about 4.2% year-to-date, with $8,082,000 collected through the first four months versus $8,440,000 in the prior year; members heard multi-year comparisons and no immediate policy changes were made.
Treasurer Terry Russ reported to the Allegany County Budget Committee that the county’s sales tax collections are down roughly 4.2% so far this year.
Russ told the committee, “Not my most pleasant moment here to have this report show up, but, we've been here before. So it's not anything new. We are down about 4.2% and, you know, we'll just it's early in the year.” He said the county has collected $8,082,000 through the first four months of the year, compared with $8,440,000 in the period the prior year — a decline of about $357,000.
The numbers matter because sales tax is a recurring revenue source for county operations. Russ provided additional context showing the county’s receipts are close to collections two years ago: he said the current total is only $11,700 below the figure from '23 for the same period. Over a five-year window, he reported the county is up about $1,300,000 between '21 and '25, with a particularly large increase of $912,000 from '21 to '22 linked to expanded retail activity after the COVID period.
Committee members asked a few clarifying questions. Mr. Healy suggested the state might be slow on reimbursements, asking, “It's possible that the state could be dragging their feet a little bit on reimbursement?” Treasurer Russ responded that sales tax payments follow a calendar and that the county has not previously seen delays in the state’s remittances, saying, “I don't think on sales tax. They usually don't do that. We have a calendar. They have to get the money to us on certain days and those days are listed on the report.”
Russ also noted routine reconciliations may produce later adjustments and that the observed decrease appears to be tied to broader economic trends rather than a one-off payment issue. He referenced retail activity changes after the pandemic and mentioned Amazon’s role in earlier increases.
No committee action was taken in response to the report during the meeting; members proceeded to unfinished business after the discussion.
Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes (March 19): Motion made by Stockton; vote called and recorded as unanimous among members present. Outcome: approved. - Motion to adjourn: Motion made (mover not recorded in transcript); second by McCurran. Vote not recorded in the provided transcript. Outcome: not recorded in transcript.
