Wayne County’s sales tax collections rose 16.3% through September, the strongest county growth in New York, while Seneca County’s collections increased 13.4%.
The state comptroller’s quarterly report puts local sales tax collections statewide at $19.6 billion for January through September 2026, up 7.6%, or about $1.4 billion, from the same period last year.
Wayne’s increase included a $5.1 million upward technical adjustment, which the report says substantially strengthened its growth. Monroe County’s 3.7% increase would have been much higher without a $10.6 million downward adjustment.
Those corrections, together with inflation, spending changes and tax policy, complicate comparisons. The report measures cash distributions to local taxing entities, rather than an inflation-adjusted measure of how much consumers bought.
Growth varied across the Finger Lakes
Wayne collected about $61 million, compared with $52.46 million a year earlier. Seneca’s collections reached $29.82 million, up from $26.30 million.
The comptroller’s nine-county Finger Lakes economic development region collected $840 million, up 5.9% from $793.2 million. Its first-quarter collections fell 1.2% before increasing 6.9% in the second quarter and 11.1% in the third.
Every county in that region posted growth through September. Along with Wayne and Seneca, Genesee grew 11.8% to $49.73 million and Wyoming rose 11.2% to $22.16 million. Livingston increased 8.2% to $38.41 million.
Ontario’s collections rose 5.4% to $93.71 million; Yates grew 5% to $17.26 million; and Orleans increased 3.5% to $19.81 million. Monroe, the largest collector in the region, received $508.1 million.
Neighboring counties are counted in different economic development regions. Cayuga County collected $38.51 million, up 3.7%, while Auburn’s separate city collections rose 9.8% to $9.64 million.
Tompkins County increased 5.8% to $54.36 million, and Ithaca’s separate collections grew 7.4% to $11.79 million. Schuyler rose 7.1% to $13.88 million, Steuben increased 9.7% to $63.39 million and Tioga grew 6.5% to $26.79 million.
The report keeps cities that impose their own sales tax separate from county collections. Their revenues should not be read as shares of the county figures.
Statewide collections accelerated during the year
The statewide increase of 7.6% exceeded growth of 4.3% during the first nine months of 2025 and 1.7% during the same period in 2024. Quarterly growth accelerated from 5.1% in January through March to 8.4% in April through June and 9.2% in July through September.
All 10 economic development regions gained. Central New York grew 8.2% to $599.2 million, second behind New York City’s 8.5% increase. The Southern Tier increased 6.4% to $483.6 million. The North Country had the slowest growth, 5.6%.
New York City collected $8.8 billion, an increase of $693 million. County and city collections elsewhere totaled about $9.5 billion, up 6.7%, or $597 million. Other local taxing entities grew 7.9%, or $93 million.
All but one county outside New York City increased collections, with eight posting double-digit growth. Montgomery rose 15.3%, while Sullivan declined 1.9% and St. Lawrence grew 0.3%.
Sixteen of the 18 cities outside New York City that impose their own sales tax recorded increases. Ogdensburg led at 28.6%, followed by Oneida at 20.6%, Johnstown at 19% and Oswego at 14.1%. Gloversville fell 3.4% and Salamanca declined 1.8%.
Higher prices and corrections affect the comparisons
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli cautioned local governments against assuming strong growth will continue. Higher costs are stretching household budgets and could reduce spending, he said.
The report says both prices and the quantity of goods and services purchased affect sales tax collections, making the exact causes of a change difficult to isolate. National inflation averaged 3.4% during January through September, while inflation-adjusted personal consumption growth averaged 2.3% through August, the latest month available for that measure.
It identifies federal tariffs and rising fuel and energy prices associated with the U.S.-Iran conflict as factors affecting costs. New York gasoline prices averaged $4.36 a gallon in September, compared with $2.88 in February, according to the report.
Local taxes collected on retail motor fuels rose 19.1% and those on residential energy grew 15.8%. Together, those taxes represented 6.3% of statewide local collections, making them a moderate contributor to overall growth.
Tax changes also affect comparisons. Suffolk County’s local rate increased from 4.625% to 4.75% in March 2025. State and local sales taxes on short-term rental occupancy also took effect that month, but the comptroller said aggregate distribution data do not isolate their contribution.
Some counties switched motor-fuel taxes to a cents-per-gallon basis to limit collections when prices rise. The report says the statewide effect appears small. Seneca has used that approach for nearly two decades; six other counties, including Chemung and Oswego, were doing so by September.
Technical adjustments can reflect late returns, prior-period corrections, refunds or errors found in audits rather than current economic activity. The comptroller said annual totals generally offer a better picture of underlying county and city sales tax performance than short-term changes.
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