COUNTY SALES TAXES DECREASE

JACKSON -- Halfway through 1991 Cape Girardeau County's sales-tax receipts are running slightly behind what was collected a year ago.

The first six checks distributed by the Missouri Department of Revenue totaled $1,522,484.64, which is under the $1,533,241.43 received for the same period a year ago.

At this point in 1989, receipts totaled $1,445,939.79.

After the first three months of this year, receipts were lagging behind last year, but larger checks in April and May put the county slightly in the plus column for 1991.

But the June check received this week was for $361,599.51, which was under the $375,029 collected in June last year and $373,073 the year before.

Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep expressed frustration with the decline in sales-tax revenue. He said the drop after six months has to indicate a decline in the local economy.

Huckstep and Auditor H. Weldon Macke have blamed some of the drop the last few months to delays in processing payments made by some businesses to the state and other delays in accounting procedures.

But Huckstep said with revenue running behind 1991, it is hard to find any excuse other than a slow-down in the economy.

"I'm just tired of second guessing what's causing it," said Huckstep. "We might as well accept the fact that we are not going to receive as much money in sales tax as we would like. It just isn't going to come in like we had hoped."

The presiding commissioner said that since the county's general revenue budget is funded by the sales tax and not property tax, the county commission could be facing some tough budget decisions in the next few years.

In past years the county has had steady sales-tax growth, but Huckstep said he fears those days may be over.

"We're going to continue to keep a close eye on the situation," said Huckstep. "But right now things don't look real good."

In 1990 Cape County's receipts from its half-cent sales tax totaled $3,059,186.87, the most the county has ever received in a year.

In 1989 total receipts were $2,928,343.58.