PUTNAM COUNTY - The downturn in the economy has finally caught up to Putnam County.

October sales tax figures took a nose dive with $3,560,000 collected, a modest $10,000 increase over the same period a year ago. The total revenue was a dramatic decline from the $5.7 million in sales tax revenue collected in September—an amazing $601,000 more than the same period in 2007.

Putnam Legislature Chairman Tony Hay attributed the dramatic decline in gasoline costs as a major factor in the loss of sales tax revenue. “The price of a gallon of fuel has been cut in half which might bode well for the consumer but when it comes to county coffers, the news really hurts,” he said.

Putnam was expected to easily surpass its $48.7 million projection for sales tax revenue by year’s end. Hay wasn’t too sure: “Gasoline prices are on the decline which means consumers will shop out of the county again. The high price of fuel kept people close to home but now old habits will surely be rekindled.”

County Executive Robert Bondi agreed telling the Putnam Courier: “The high cost of gasoline drove people to reconsider their shopping destinations. While the trend is very helpful for today, it is not something we can’t rely on for the future.”

Bondi said unless more commercial enterprises locate within the county, “residents will go back to their long term spending habits of traveling to the Danbury Mall or shopping along Route 9 in Dutchess County or the malls in White Plains or Jefferson Valley in Westchester.”

Bondi called for clean regional shopping. “We need facilities off the interstate highway system so that our families don’t have long distances to travel and not have to spend hours on the road.”

The New York State Department of Taxation reported Putnam collected $42,632,363 in sales tax receipts from January 1 through October 31, an increase of nearly 20 percent over the same period in 2007 when $31,651,000 was collected.

The increase was the highest reported anywhere in New York State.

Neighboring Westchester experienced a modest 2.9 percent increase while Dutchess County sales tax coffers decreased by 2.8 percent during the first three quarters of 2008.

In Rockland County, sales tax revenue increased by 2.2 percent while Orange County sales tax coffers increased by 3.5 percent.