NORWICH – Sales tax collections in Chenango County flowed back to regular levels in March, despite the nation’s faltering economy. First quarter results were only $32 down from the same period in 2008.

The slight loss was surprisingly far less than financial leaders had anticipated, said Chenango County Treasurer William B. Evans. The county was poised to lose $409,000 based on sales tax collections from January and February.

Evans said at the time that the nearly 6 percent drop was tentative and could be the result of a posting error. No errors were found, however. The treasurer suggested the amount could have been caught up in the state’s fiscal year-end reporting process.

“Uncharacteristic flows happen at the end of the state’s fiscal year from time to time,” he said.

Across the state, 36 counties are seeing reductions in sales tax revenue, 10 of them with declines of 8 percent or more, according to the New York State Association of Counties, an advocacy group in Albany.

“We are trending outside of the norm from what’s being seen statewide,” said Evans. Chenango County tends to lag behind the rest of the state when collections are headed down, but lags also when coming back out of recessions, he said.

The county raised $18.3 million in 2008, compared with $18.7 million in 2007, or 2.13 percent less. Even though sales tax receipts for the first quarter of 2009 were $4,396,365, and portend a lesser amount again at the end of this year, Evans said the first quarter always tracks low.

Chenango County lawmakers heard more good news from the treasurer’s office last Thursday at a meeting of the Finance Committee. An unanticipated $71,000 more in Tobacco Settlement Funds landed in its coffers in February.

This year’s annual allotment now stands at $907,000, about half of which has already been earmarked for the following purposes: tobacco awareness programs; operations at the Chenango County Public Safety Facility; new voting machines and related elections’ costs; the county’s contribution to Stop NYRI, the power line opposition group; and the Chenango County Historical Museum capital campaign.

Supervisors will have access to $363,000 to pay for unexpected costs of running the government this year, Evans said.

Chenango County’s portion of Tobacco Settlement funds filter down to the county annually from a 1998 federal settlement between the states and major tobacco companies. They are expected to continue through 2024.

The county received $822,551 last year, also an increase from past years.