Most of area's January sales tax receipts up from year ago

This month's sales tax revenue checks are bigger than they were a year ago for many area jurisdictions, and the reactions from local officials are mixed.

Cape Girardeau County reported revenue from December of $587,184, up about $34,000 from a year ago. Cape Girardeau received $875,109, about $75,000 higher, and Jackson received $185,676, about $23,00 more.

Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce executive director John Mehner said 2009 was inconsistent, with one month seeing an increase in revenue and the following month experiencing a decrease.

"While I'm happy they're up, it must happen three months in a row before we can say we've turned the corner," Mehner said of the sales tax revenue. "Many retailers did better or about the same as they did during the 2008 holiday shopping season, while a few did worse. I don't have a crystal ball, but I'm hoping that we'd rebound this year."

Cape Girardeau County Treasurer Roger Hudson said: "It's not time to start jumping up and down. But we're happy to start out with what we have."

On the other hand, Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr said she's ecstatic about the increase.

"While it's not a huge increase percentagewise, any increase at this time is fabulous," Lohr said. "It also signifies our area is more stable than some other areas of the country."

Adam Ross, manager of Ross Furniture in Jackson, said the period between Christmas and New Year's Day was the store's best week ever.

"People were out spending," Ross said. "New Year's is always good, but this year was extraordinarily good. With our industry there are a lot of factories hurting, so we pick up on a lot of special deals that we pass onto the customer."

Bollinger County Presiding Commissioner Wayne Johnson was cautiously optimistic the rest of the year could follow the most recent payments received, which were about $1,200 more than in January 2009. Johnson expects the county to take in about $30,000 more in revenue than in 2009 but $60,000 less than in 2008, which was $900,000.

"If the economy turns around we'll be in real good shape," Johnson said. "But even if it turns around partially, we'll still be on target of what we anticipate."

Revenue in Scott County increased from $128,089 in January 2009 to $239,588 this month. County clerk Rita Milam said the dramatic rise was because a half-cent sales tax that went into effect later in the year.

"It was up a little more than the previous year but about average with other Januarys before that," Milam said. "Sales tax revenue is so hard to determine. We never know what we're going to get. We're hoping they come in real high for the rest of the year."

While jurisdictions in Cape Girardeau County seemed to benefit from the holiday shoppers, others saw some potential revenue being spent outside the county in larger cities, said Perry County treasurer Veronica Hershey. Perry County received $90,726 in payments, nearly $5,000 less than the same time period in 2009.

"You can never stress enough the importance of shopping local," Hershey said. "So many things are based on sales tax revenue that come in. Anytime people shop out of county it contributes to another county's prosperity."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3268

Pertinent addresses:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO

101 Court St., Jackson, MO

Sales tax revenue received in January

Bollinger County

2009: $72,128

2010: $73,323

Cape Girardeau

2009: $799,664

2010: $875,109

Cape Girardeau County

2009: $553,686

2010: $587,184

Jackson

2009: $162,326

2010: $185,676

Perry County

2009: $95,585

2010: $90,726

Scott County

2009: $128,089

2010: $239,588

SOURCES; City, county offices