Sales tax revenue up 1 percent; use tax brings in $344,000
April sales tax revenue is up 1 percent over the same period last year, which was itself the highest April collection on record, and use tax collections so far this fiscal year have exceeded expectations, Chief Finance Officer/City Clerk Jason Muninger said Monday.
“This year’s April collection was $1,920,315, which is about 1 percent higher than April collections last year. This puts us about $1.5 million, or 8.6 percent, over the anticipated budget for the fiscal year so far, Muninger said. “Our second use tax collection, which we received today, was $344,000. This is a new tax for us — it went into effect Jan. 1 — and so far it has brought in $770,000.”
The first use tax collection, received last month, was $425,813.
Muninger said Fiscal Year 2021-22 was considered “a banner year” for sales tax collections, with the City on-target to exceed those numbers this year.
“We ended FY 2021-22 with $19,948,420 in sales tax revenue, or 14.7 percent, over the anticipated budget for that year,” he said. “We’re likely to exceed that amount by about $800,000, or 3.5 percent, this year. We budget conservatively every fiscal year, so the over-budget increases are not as surprising as they might seem on the surface. It’s also important to remember that these numbers are at least partially influenced by inflation, which will hopefully trend downward in the upcoming year, in which case we could see a significant decrease in revenue.”
With only a couple of exceptions, City sales tax collections have shown increases over the past two years, many times with record highs. Local shopping, inflation, and stimulus funds are thought to be factors in the increases.
The City’s fiscal year ends June 30. City staff is currently in budget preparations for Fiscal Year 2023-24, which begins July 1. A workshop meeting for the City Council is planned for May 15 to discuss the upcoming year’s budget and capital projects, with a public hearing planned for June 5 and final consideration during the first City Council meeting in July.