Local

DiNapoli: Former Vernon Center Fire Department Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Stealing Over $300,000

Jonnell Rose, former Treasurer of the Vernon Center Fire Department, pled guilty to stealing more than $300,000 from the department, State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville, and New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James announced today.

Local Sales Tax Collections Up 3.7 Percent in the First Half of 2025

Sales tax collections for local governments and other local taxing entities in New York State totaled $11.9 billion in the first half of 2025, up 3.7 percent ($423 million) over the same period last year. Over the past few years, since the end of the dramatic pandemic-related swings in collections from 2020 to 2022, first-half sales taxes are showing similar patterns of growth as in the years following the recession-related dip in 2009. All of the state’s 10 regions saw year-over-year growth in first-half collections.