CHENANGO COUNTY – Chenango County’s sales tax revenue for the first and second quarters slipped from this time last year, according to data recently released by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

A July report compiled by the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) shows that Chenango County dropped from a total $10.02 million collected in sales tax from January to June, 2013, to just $9.9 million during the same period for 2014 – a difference of approximately 1.16 percent.

Despite an uptick in sales taxes during the month of May, when the county saw a hopeful 8.2 percent gain compared to May of 2013, it wasn’t enough to offset negative gains for the county for the second consecutive quarter.

“The growth in sales tax in many parts of the state has been much more muted since the economic downturn and it hasn’t fully recovered,” explained Chenango County Treasurer Bill Craine. Even so, there’s reason to be confident that sales tax will return to a modestly positive trend, he added. “I remain cautiously optimistic that we’ll have caught up with last year’s numbers or may be one or two percent ahead by the end of the year.”

Though Chenango County deals with lackluster sales tax revenue halfway through the year, it’s not alone. According to NYSAC, sales taxes across the state this year have been flat when compared to 2013.