Local government sales tax collections in July increased by 21.2% over the same month in 2020, marking the fourth consecutive month that collections exceeded 2020 results. Collections totaled close to $1.6 billion, up $276 million from July of last year.
Personal income in New York State has surpassed pre-pandemic levels; while this is a positive development, there are two causes for concern. First, growth is primarily due to transfer receipts paid to New Yorkers from the government, which account for more than 20 percent of personal income. Second, earnings in seven industrial sectors, including the leisure and hospitality sector that was hardest hit during the pandemic, have not yet returned to pre-2020 levels.
The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a change in how people sought and received medical care; rather than visiting medical practitioners in person, increasing numbers of people used telehealth services. While telehealth usage in New York and nationally has declined since the pandemic peak, it remains well above pre-pandemic levels, though still only a small share of overall utilization.
Local sales tax collections in May increased by 57.8 percent over the same month in 2020, the highest one month increase in recent history. Collections totaled $1.4 billion, up $530 million from May of last year.
Local government sales tax collections in April grew by 45.7 percent over the same month in 2020. Collections totaled $1.5 billion, up $464 million from April of last year.
Sales tax revenue for local governments in New York State declined by 3.9 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. Sales tax collections from January through March totaled $4.3 billion, which was $173 million less than the first quarter of 2020.
Overall sales tax collections for local governments declined by 4.2 percent in February compared to the same month in 2020. Collections totaled nearly $1.3 billion, down $55 million from February of last year. Collections are down $2.2 billion, or 12 percent, for the past 12 months (March 2020 – February 2021), compared to the same 12 months ending February 2020.
Local government sales tax collections statewide were down 5.9 percent in January compared to the same time last year, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced. Collections totaled $1.5 billion, down $95 million from January 2020.
Population in the Bronx grew by 10.4 percent from 2000 to 2017 (faster than any other borough), driven primarily by the growth in the immigrant population, but it declined in the next two years to 1.42 million residents.
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic shutdown quickly led to soaring unemployment rates in New York; those rates subsequently declined slowly but steadily. However, for New Yorkers who face unique challenges due to a disability, unemployment rates increased more quickly and have remained stubbornly high, disrupting progress that had been made leading up to the pandemic.
