By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – A weak fourth-quarter sales tax take left Ogdensburg about $60,000 short the budgeted amount, according to City Comptroller Philip Cosmo.

Cosmo said the county had budgeted to receive $3,597,000, but only took in $3,535,575. Cosmo said Ogdensburg is feeling the same pinch as St. Lawrence County, which took about $3 million less in sales tax then was budgeted.

“Gas has been a big thing. It’s been low for so long now. And the Canadian dollar has been weak too,” he said.

Cosmo said this is the first year since 2009 that the city over estimate sales tax takes.

“We haven’t had a negative year in sometime,” he said.

Compounding problems for the city is health care expenses, which came in over budget.

“We paid out about $70,000 more than we expected to spend,” he said.

The county had anticipated spending $2.59 million, but actually paid $3.19 million. Because the city is self-insured Cosmo says payouts are volatile and very hard to estimate in a budget.

“We roll the dice on health insurance, unfortunately sales tax and health insurance are to things we have very little control over,” he said.

Cosmo said he is hopeful that numbers will come in better in 2016, but said it’s too early in the year to speculate on trends. Cosmo said the city was caught off guard last year when fourth quarter sales tax numbers came in short.