Orange County 2025 Sales Tax Falls Short by $900,000, Officials Say

Orange County’s 2025 sales tax collections were about 2.7 percent, roughly $900,000, below budget projections, county officials announced March 2, 2026 in Goshen. County Commissioner of Finance Kerry Gallagher attributed the gap to national events and changing consumer behavior and said, “There were a lot of reasons why we believe we were under plan this year. There was a government shutdown, there was a change in administration, and people were concerned about how they were spending their money. That’s the bottom line.”

Gallagher also told reporters that the county “lost $5.4 million in the first quarter and never recovered from that hit,” a shortfall he linked to the larger annual gap, even as he noted that “sales tax income in 2025 was up from the previous year.” The March 2 announcement frames the county’s budget shortfall against both a one-time first-quarter loss and year-over-year growth in receipts.

Statewide context from the New York State Comptroller shows mixed signals: “Sales tax collections for local governments and other local taxing entities in New York State totaled $18.2 billion from January to September 2025, an increase of 4.3 percent ($747 million) compared to the same period last year.” The Comptroller’s regional table lists Orange County with the following figures verbatim: “Orange County $293.7 $300.8 2.4% $91.75 $92.83 1.2% $97.19 $99.85 2.7% $104.7 $108.1 3.2%.” The Comptroller’s release cautions that “Local sales tax distributions (‘collections’) for the first two months of each calendar quarter are based on estimates determined by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, which periodically adjusts its methodology for estimating distributions to improve their accuracy. For the last month of each quarter, distributions are adjusted based on quarterly vendor returns to better reflect what collections were for the entire quarter. Collections may also reflect technical adjustments and other administrative issues, and changes in tax rates, all of which complicate…”

The county announcement in Goshen comes as officials and analysts weigh how national events translate to municipal receipts. For contrast, another jurisdiction named Orange County saw very different results: Orange County, Texas reported that “the county ended up with almost $4.3 million more in 2025 than for 2024, or a 50.8 percent increase,” finishing the year with $12.8 million in sales tax payments compared to $8.52 million in 2024; Texas county officials told local reporters the jump reflected back payments from a source the Texas Comptroller’s Office held as confidential.

Orange County, NY’s finance office will now reconcile the $900,000 shortfall against adopted budgets and capital plans, while residents and service providers monitor whether projected program funding tied to sales tax receipts will be adjusted. The county’s March 2, 2026 notice and Kerry Gallagher’s assessment place the shortfall within a broader New York environment that posted a 4.3 percent Jan–Sep 2025 gain statewide but where local estimation and quarterly adjustments can change distribution totals.