By JIMMY LAWTON

CANTON – County treasurer Kevin Felt says the tumble of the Canadian dollar is likely hurting St. Lawrence County sales tax revenues.

Although St. Lawrence County’s sales tax was by up by 30 percent, Felt says the rise is due solely to the 1 percent increase in sales tax that was levied in 2013.

Felt said sales tax revenues rose from $43.5 million to roughly $56.5 million, but that isn’t reflective of an increase in spending at St. Lawrence County stores and businesses. He said that proportionately, sales tax is down.

“If you were to calculate the sales tax the 3 percent level, we would have been down to about $42.3 million,” he said.

Felt suspects a large contributor to declining sales tax collections is the weak Canadian dollar, something local businesses are likely experiencing as well.

“We are so dependent on the Canadian exchange that it really hurts us when their dollar is weak,” he said.

As of Wednesday the Canadian dollar, also know as the loonie, was valued at 80 cents compared to the U.S. dollar. That decline is expected to continue with predictions pointing to a low of 75 cents against the U.S. dollar, according to several business media reports.

“I don’t know what’s driving it, but hopefully things turn around,” he said.

Felt said the stronger U.S. dollar may be nice for county residents shopping in Canada, but that could also be bad for the county.

“I don’t know how many people are doing that, but it has the potential to hurt us,” he said.

Felt said the news is disturbing for county, because sales tax was revenues, which already been down were beginning to rise. Felt said the county had planned on that trend to continue when preparing the budget.

“The drop (in sales tax) was rebounding for the first three-quarters, but in the last quarter it dropped back down,” he said.

Felt said it will be tough to predict sales tax now since there is no trend to look at. He said sales tax isn’t typically so volatile.

Felt said he is hopefully sales tax revenues will turn around, but added that there might be some help for the county if the St. Regis Mohawk land claim is settled.

In January, Felt said the county is also experiencing some budget relief due to the declining tax prices, though he added that the lower price could also hurt the county’s sales tax collections.

The problem of declining sales tax revenues is not restricted to St. Lawrence County. A recent state comptroller’s office report states sales tax collections across the state in 2014 suffered the slowest annual growth since the end of the 2008-09 recession. Collections across the state grew by $439 million, or 3 percent, from 2013 to 2014. In 2013, the growth rate was 5.2 percent. New York’s 15-year annual average growth in sales taxes is 4.2 percent.

The report showed that sales tax growth was strongest in the North Country, which increased 7.7 percent. However, the report explained that the growth was largely due to a sales tax increase in three counties that took effect in late 2013, but were in place for all of 2014.

Essex and Lewis counties increased their tax rates from 3.75 percent to 4 percent, while St. Lawrence County increased its rate from 3 to 4 percent.

“Municipalities across this state know all too well the volatile nature of sales tax revenue in uncertain economic times,” said Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. “When our local governments have slower-than-expected revenue growth, the results can have a serious impact on their budgets now and in the future. As the 2015 fiscal year unfolds, I recommend local leaders continue their vigilance in monitoring their revenues and spending and be ready to tighten their belts should this slowdown continue.”