By Hank Russell
Data recently released from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office showed that, in the first four months of the year, tax collections on Long Island fell 2%. Broken down by county, Nassau and Suffolk saw year-over-year decreases of 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively. That is opposite of the state, which saw a 1.6% increase in tax collections during that same time.
According to the comptroller, Long Island has collected $1.09 billion in tax collections so far this year. That is down compared to the same period last year, when the region collected $1.118 billion. Nassau County only collected $495.6 million from January to April 2024, down from $506.9 million collected during the first four months of 2023. Suffolk’s tax collection also dropped, from $604.0 million in the first one-third of 2023 to $593.2 million
Upon learning the news, Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy pointed out that there are “roughly 151,000” distinct taxable entities from “a Dollar Tree to a gas station.” On the topic of gas stations, Kennedy said there is something paradoxical about the drop in tax collections from these entities because fewer people are purchasing fuel.
“That kind of defies logic because the roads are constantly packed,” he said.
From January to April 2024, on a monthly basis, Suffolk tax collections dropped each month – by 1.8% in January, 1.9% in February, 0.6% in March and 2.9% in April. Kennedy said he is “not wildly optimistic” about how much money Suffolk will be collecting in the coming months, foreseeing only an increase of 2.2% to 2.4%. In order to meet budget projections, he said, sales tax collections would have to increase 4% throughout the rest of the year.
Long Island Life & Politics has reached out to Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillip’s office, but did not hear back as of press time.
DiNapoli noted that the state’s tax collections have increased from $7.27 billion in the first four months of 2023 to $7.38 billion from January-April 2024. Last month, the Empire State brought in $1.76 billion — a 1.5% improvement over the same month last year, when the state collected $1.73 billion.
“Growth in local sales tax collections for April was modest for the third straight month and mostly driven by New York City,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “Over two-fifths of counties experienced year-over-year declines for the month. My office will continue to provide regular reporting to help local officials better understand how sales tax is performing in their part of the state.”