SARATOGA SPRINGS — The city finance commissioner said Thursday that it’s too early to say how the current national economic downturn will affect city finances.

“We are concerned but we don’t know how concerned [we should be],” Commissioner Kenneth Ivins said.

The reason is that some of the city’s major revenue sources won’t be known until later in the year.

Ivins presented the city’s second quarter financial report to the City Council this week for the quarter ending June 30.

Some of city’s larger revenue streams include sales tax money, admissions tax paid by the New York Racing Association at the Saratoga Race Course, and hotel and occupancy tax revenue paid to the city by Saratoga County.

The summer sales tax figures, for example, won’t be known until September or later.

Ivins said the admissions tax generated by the Saratoga Race Course could be lower than anticipated if track attendance drops significantly. As of this week, attendance at the historic racetrack on Union Avenue was off about 16 percent comparing the same time period in 2007.

In general, Ivins said the last report on sales tax from earlier this year is that it was up somewhat from what was budgeted in the city’s 2008 budget.

However, the mortgage tax generated in the city during the early part of the year is down about the same percentage that the sales tax revenue has increased.

Ivins attributes the increase in sales tax revenue to the large jump in gasoline prices over the past four months. The city receives sales tax on gasoline, he said.

The City Council approved a $37.8 million general fund budget last November. This council included three people who are longer on the council.

“We will have a much better idea [on revenues] in October,” Ivins said on Thursday.

In his quarterly report, Ivins said that the city finance office has received 63 percent, or $9.3 million, of the property taxes levied on taxpayers in the 2008 budget as of June 30. Taxpayers can pay their property taxes in four installments through the year. During the same period in 2007, some 62 percent of the property taxes had been collected, he said.

Ivins reported that all liability insurance has been paid in full for the year. Any additional insurance expenses would be for claims or additional coverage, Ivins said in his report.

“Most departments’ expenses are running at about 45 percent on target [as of June 30],” Ivins said. He said any variances are “due to seasonal expenses and grants.”