Sales tax revenues rely on a combination of factors, but when it comes down to it, Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri said an increase in sales tax revenue has allowed his budget proposal for the next fiscal year to not require a tax increase.

“We've been pleasantly surprised over our sales taxes," he said. "And if you looked at the trajectory, last year was roughly $3 million. That's the fastest growth that we've seen in the over decade that I've been the mayor each and every year. They've gone up. But that was remarkable."

Turns out Utica isn’t alone with having a jump in sales tax revenue.

The state Comptroller’s Office said local government sales tax collections in the state totaled $22.1 billion in 2022, up $2.5 billion from 2021. The strong revenue was an indication of how consumer shopping was affected by inflation and higher prices, the comptroller found.

The director of state studies at the Citizens Budget Commission said numbers have been going up.

“The few years period prior to 2020, sales tax receipts statewide were growing at about 3.9 percent on average annually in the past three years. Sales tax receipts have been growing by about 6.1 percent annually. So, it's a kind of sustained and higher rate of growth that we've seen recently," Citizens Budget Commission Director of State Studies Patrick Orecki said.

Experts say inflation has a lot to do with it, and even though consumer demand for goods cooled somewhat during the year, according to the state Comptroller’s Office, people are spending.

In Utica, the mayor said it's been strategic getting to point — having upgraded credit ratings, adding to the fund balance and other positives. Drawing people to the city with quality-of-life improvements, housing investments and seeing a population increase have helped lead to the increase in spending.

“The rebirth of the city has come from the depths of the depths to the heights of where we are at this point. It's a great city. I started out saying when we were rebranding our city, "Utica Starts With You." You always start with the resident. You bring hope back to the resident," Palmieri said.

While Utica’s situation is unique, the widespread jump in sales tax revenue may mean other areas won’t see tax increases.

“This year's budget and financial plans for government in New York will probably show, in many instances, that sales tax allowed to their budgets to keep other taxes lower. I think part of the question is how long that lasts for, if sales taxes will remain high. If consumption remains high, the growth will continue to be strong. But any cooling could provide an opposite situation in future years," Orecki said.

The growth in revenue is occurring at a time when there were concerns about the impact of the gas tax holiday.

Outside of New York City, the state Comptroller's Office said Saratoga Springs saw the strongest growth at 14.6%, followed by Johnstown, Glens Falls and Ithaca.

The lowest reported growth was in Olean.