NORWICH – Chenango County Treasurer William C. Craine suggested better than average sales of autos and home building supplies last year may have contributed to a double-digit increase in sales tax.

Tax receipts on sales in Chenango County during 2011 were $19.887 million, or 10.26 percent more than the previous year’s collections. They were also more than what was collected before the nation’s economy began plummeting. (See sidebar for figures.)

“They are significantly above budget,” said Craine in a report to the county’s Finance Committee Thursday.

The county general fund and the towns/villages each receive 37.5 percent of the total with the county retaining the final 25 percent for operations and communications at the Chenango County Public Safety Facility. About 5.2 million of last year’s totals were from the special 1 percent tax collected for the jail and Sheriff’s offices.

Only a handful of counties in New York had double-digit percentage increases. Craine said most of the increases were in Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee flood zones, and could have resulted in more home-building and repair purchases at hardware and lumber stores.

Chenango County was less affected by the storms than other counties were, however, prompting the members of the committee to question whether auto sales were up.