Although sales tax receipts continue to lag compared to last year’s figures, Genesee County Treasurer Scott German said he is optimistic that 2021 will prove to be financially robust.
“The county continues to receive less sales tax than 2020 – receipts are down about 9 percent for the first three months -- but hopefully as business continues to reopen sales tax will get stronger,” German said. “The county adopted a fiscally conservative budget for 2021 and, barring any other catastrophe, county finances should end in 2021 strong.”
German, in presenting his departmental report Wednesday to the Genesee County Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee, emphasized that the county’s decision to adopt a “conservative” budget for the 2021 fiscal year (Jan. 1-Dec. 31) will go a long way in stabilizing its economic picture as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
“Last year was very tumultuous,” he said, noting that state officials projected a 20- to 30-percent loss in sales tax and 20-percent decrease in state aid. “Remarkably, however, our sales tax revenues declined by only 2.66 percent from 2019.”
His report indicated that the county shared 16 percent or $6.5 million of the sales tax amount received with the City of Batavia, and that New York State has approved additional withholdings from the county’s share of sales tax revenues for 2021 for a distressed provider assistance fund.
German also mentioned that the county received a boost from the first federal stimulus package as its Medicaid shares resulted in a savings of $900,000.
At the end of 2020, the county had an unassigned balance of $14,644,551, a decrease of $520,514 from 2019, German reported. Meanwhile, the county’s self-insurance fund reserves went up from $743,193 at the end of 2019 to $1,493,261 at the close of 2020, with the increase attributed to a drop in medical procedures.
The county received $58,863 more in mortgage taxes in 2020 compared to 2019, he said.
Looking ahead, German said the $11.1 million allocated to the county through the American Rescue Plan will be divided into equal installments in 2021 and 2022. The utilization of these funds has yet to be determined, he added.
In a related development, Kevin Andrews, director of Real Property Tax Services, reported home sales are “trending up” and that most of the county’s towns and villages are working on reassessment projects for the 2021 assessment rolls.
Last year, RPTS supported reassessments in the towns of Bergen, Byron, Elba, Oakfield and Stafford, while similar projects in the City of Batavia and towns of Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Darien, Le Roy, Pavilion and Pembroke were canceled due to COVID-19, Andrews said.
