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Ulster County finance office reports sales tax decline and possible cannabis tax underpayment
Summary
The county finance commissioner reported year‑to‑date sales tax receipts of $44.75 million (a 3.9% decline) and said the county appears to have been underpaid roughly $133,000 in adult‑use cannabis tax for Q1 2025; staff are working with state tax authorities to reconcile.
Ulster County’s finance office briefed the Ways and Means Committee on May 15, reporting mixed revenue signals and ongoing state reconciliation work.
The commissioner of finance reported year‑to‑date sales tax receipts of $44.75 million, a 3.9% decline from the same period last year, but said March payments were up 12.6% compared with the same month in the prior year. "Year‑to‑date sales tax revenue is 44 million, 44.7 million, which is a 3.9% decline from where we were this time last year," the commissioner said.
The meeting highlighted a suspected underpayment of adult‑use cannabis tax for the first quarter of 2025. The controller’s office received a remittance of $96,760 reported on April 21, 2025 for the quarter; staff noted that state reported sales for the period were approximately $5,733,000 and that the county should receive 4% of sales, but the remittance represented only about 1.7% of reported sales. The commissioner said the county believes it was underpaid by about $133,000 and is coordinating with the Office of Cannabis Management and the state Department of Taxation and Finance to resolve the discrepancy.
Officials also reviewed occupancy tax collections and interest earnings: occupancy tax receipts were reported as approximately $1.78 million (noting later adjustments), and interest earnings through April were reported at about $2.7 million year‑to‑date. County staff said several audit adjustments remain before the annual comprehensive financial report is finalized.
The finance commissioner said that the county had recorded $41 million in capital spending in 2024 (a high watermark) and that capital spending through the first four months of 2025 was $12 million, driven by projects such as the GOC construction and upcoming highway work.
Next steps: Finance staff will continue reconciling cannabis tax distributions with state agencies and will provide updates to the committee as adjustments are made and the audit reports are finalized.
