July's use-tax funds way up in Cape Girardeau County

If July's revenue figures from the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) are any indication, people in Cape Girardeau County remain comfortable making out-of-state and online purchases.

County Treasurer Roger Hudson's office deposited $168,879.27 in use tax this month as received from DOR, a 20.7% increase from July 2021's $139,975.86.

Year-to-date, $1,742,597.55 has been received since January, a 3.9% increase from the first seven months of last year.

County voters narrowly OK'd the 1% use tax in April 2015, which was approved by a final margin of just nine votes after a recount.

The tax was promoted to voters as the funding mechanism for the new county courthouse in Jackson.

Other funds show decreases

• General Sales Tax fund for July totaled $707,544.46, down more than 5%, or $38,721.05, from last July's total of $746,265.51.

July's sales tax receipts are down despite the current inflationary spiral.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index reported prices on items such as gasoline, food and rent increased 9.1% in June, notching a new 40-year high in U.S. inflation.

• Proposition One, a half-cent sales tax primarily funding road and bridge projects and approved by county voters in August 2006, took in $707,544.12 this month, down more than 5% from July 2021's $746,263.17.
• Law Enforcement Public Safety Tax, a half-cent levy approved 57% to 43% in a June 2020 referendum to help the county sheriff's office hire and retain staff, upgrade equipment and underwrite jail operations, took in $705,419.86 in July, down nearly 5% from July 2021's $740,681.31.