CANTON – St. Lawrence County’s first quarter sales tax take is down $595,211 from last the same time last year.

That’s a 4.59 percent decrease for collection of sales tax between January to March 16 of last year. It’s also one of the biggest declines of any county in the state.

Only Clinton, Tioga and Washington saw larger declines than St. Lawrence County, a report from New York State Association of Counties shows.

The decrease is far worse than the state average, which actually saw a 2.25 increase.

St. Lawrence County legislators have struggling to balance the budget since the Canadian dollar dipped in value and gas prices dropped substantially.

“To put this into perspective, the first quarter of 2015 was particularly bad for counties in regard to local sales tax receipts, with 33 counties collecting less sales tax in 2015 than they did in 2014 in the first quarter. Of the 20 counties that had negative receipts in the first quarter of 2016 compared to 2015, 11 of them also experienced negative sales tax receipts in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 2014. These 11 counties were clustered along the Canadian border, Southern Tier and Schoharie Valley for the most part,” a release from NYSAC. Says.

On the national level, reports indicate a slowdown in the retail sector, with durable goods and car sales showing signs of stagnation. This combined with consumers saving a bit more of their income and reducing debt (vs. spending it) has resulted in a mixed bag for counties in regard to 1st quarter sales tax receipts compared to last year.

"Counties are also seeing continued decline in local sales tax receipts due lower motor fuel prices in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, which can be a mixed blessing for local governments, who are spending less on fuel but also seeing declines in anticipated revenues," said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario.