How to resolve AdBlock issue? SARATOGA SPRINGS — Sales tax received by, and Hotel Occupancy tax paid to Saratoga Springs are both anticipated to exceed amounts expected in the 2022 revised budget, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi said Nov. 15 during her Third Quarter Financial Report submittal to the City Council.
The amount received in sales tax as of Sept. 30 was $9,110,252.30, an 11% increase compared to Sept. 30, 2021. It is expected the city will exceed the 2022 revised budget of $14.9 million.
As of Sept. 30, the city had received $201,300.89 in hotel occupancy tax. Collections are rebounding from 2021 and have about doubled in 2022 when compared to the first two installments of 2021, Sanghvi said. The city expects to exceed the 2022 revised budget of $425,000.
The report specifies for the quarter ended Sept. 30.
Property taxes in the General Fund are recognized as revenue for the full amount levied at the time the tax roll is posted to the general ledger and an adjustment made at year end to defer to future years the amount not collected. As of Sept. 30, 87% - or $14,824,510.48 had been collected, similar to the 87% collected last year at this time.
Additional items:
• VLT aid in the amount of $2,325,592 for 2022 was received on June 17. The City’s revised budget for 2022 is $2,325,592.
• State Aid Revenue sharing is distributed in two installments, September and December, with the largest share received in December. The September payment was $227,128. The city expects to meet the revised budget of $1,649,701.
• Mortgage Tax is paid semiannually in May and November. Mortgage tax receipts increased approximately 12% when compared to Sept. 30, 2021. As of Sept. 30, 2022, $1,135,241.98 was received. Taking into consideration the property tax revenue recognition issues, approximately 69% of revenues were actually received as of this date - a decrease from 2021 when 77% of revenues were received. This decrease is partly a timing issue of when grant revenues are received, the use of fund balance in the 2022 adopted budget, and also because in 2021 the city received 2020 state aid that had been held back in 2020, according to the Finance Department.
• The city closed on a General Obligation Bond on June 23, 2022 to finance various 2022 capital projects for $17,137,299.
