COUNTY SEES 7 PERCENT REVENUE RISE

JACKSON -- Although the December sales tax check wasn't quite as much as county officials had projected, Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke is more than pleased with sales tax growth in 1993.

Cape County's half-cent sales tax generated $3,450,060 in 1993, an increase of 7.02 percent over 1992. In actual dollars, the increase was $226,288.

"With the flooding we had this year and everything else, I was well pleased with the 7 percent growth," said Macke. "This is the best growth we have had for about four years."

The surprise came in the December check, which Macke had anticipated would far exceed last year's December check of $409,683. Instead, the December check was 3 percent less than last year, coming in at $397,342.

Except for February, December was the only month where 1993 receipts were less than the same month of 1992.

"I guess I was a little overly optimistic; I was bragging about $450,000, and we got $397,000," Macke said of December's amount. "But it was still a great year for sales tax revenue."

The drop in December receipts does not necessarily mean that sales declined substantially in the latter part of the year, said Macke. The county's sales taxes are collected by the Missouri Department of Revenue and apportioned on a monthly basis.

Sometimes a large company's receipts are not included in the monthly check; instead they show up in the next month's check.

"There are a lot of things that could have caused it, and the money could show up in January," said Macke. "We certainly don't view it as a big downturn."

Macke and other county officials often prefer to evaluate sales tax receipts over a period of several months rather than on a monthly basis because of the variety of factors that could impact a certain month's receipts.

Macke, County Clerk Rodney Miller, and Associate Commissioners E.C. Younghouse and Larry Bock have been working this week to finalize the county's proposed 1994 budget.

Work on the budget began last month but was delayed some when Presiding Commissioner Gene Huckstep, the county's chief budget officer, was hospitalized. Huckstep is now recuperating at home; however, the four have been focused on the budget document.

Macke said the preliminary draft of the county's general fund budget is for about $6.3 million, a 9 percent increase over this year.

Macke explained the increase is due to higher insurance costs projected for 1994 and a planned expenditure of up to $250,000 to update the computer system in several county offices.

He said Ron Andrews, the county's director of data processing, advised the county commission recently that the computer system has a normal life of about five years and has lasted for eight years.

Computer systems for the assessor and recorder of deeds also need some major revisions.

"We are muddling along on the budget, but everyone is working hard together and we should have it done soon," said Macke. "I think by Thursday we will, in general, finalize the budget."

Macke is also working to finalize revenue projections for 1994, which include not only sales tax but revenues from fees collected by county offices and reimbursements or funding from the state and federal governments.

Before the budget can be given final approval, state law requires that a public hearing be held on the document. Although the budget must be approved before bills can be paid in 1994, most counties do not finalized budgets until near the end of January.