Coronavirus affecting Cape County tax revenue

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on Cape Girardeau County’s revenue.

April sales tax receipts, which reflected several weeks of retail activity in March, were 6.15% lower than sales tax revenue in April 2019 and more than 10% below the amount generated by the county’s half-cent sales tax in April 2018.

County Treasurer Roger Hudson released the latest tax revenue data Wednesday and said the temporary closure of many retail businesses in the county due to the coronavirus outbreak was responsible for a slowdown in consumer activity, which resulted in lower sales tax revenue.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Hudson said. “This is the first negative month we’ve had (in 2020).” Until last month, when the area began feeling the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, Hudson said “things were trending pretty well.”

According to Hudson’s latest report, the county’s sales tax raised $578,794 this month, down from $731,626 in March. In April 2019, the sales tax raised $616,696, while the total in April 2018 was $644.224.

Thanks to strong retail activity in December, January and February, however, the county’s sales tax revenue is still running about a half percentage point ahead of last year’s pace. Through the first four monthly tax cycles of 2020, the sales tax has generated $2,616,496, a little more than $14,000 more than the $2,602,045 raised through the first four months of 2019.

The county’s use tax, a tax on goods purchased outside of Missouri and brought or shipped into the state, was also lower this month — by 4.9% — than it was in April 2019. This month, the use tax added $88,699 to Cape Girardeau County’s revenue, while in April 2019, the tax generated $93,276. Overall, the use tax this year is running 9.6% ahead of last year’s pace — $534,179 so far this year compared to $487,371 for the same period last year.

Hudson said he expects continued use-tax revenue growth, thanks to increased online sales, and said April’s use-tax decline was probably a reflection of a short-term slow down in commercial activity.

“Manufacturers bringing (fewer) materials from out of state may have influenced this,” he said.

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