Sales tax numbers

When looking for economic bright spots in Southeast Missouri, consider sales tax receipts in Cape Girardeau. General sales tax revenue mustered a slight gain (0.32 percent) for the first seven months of the year in the city, while most other taxing entities in our area showed declines.

And Cape Girardeau's sales tax on hotels, motels and restaurants is providing another bit of positive news. In the fiscal year that ended in June, the combined receipts for the hotel-motel-restaurant tax were up nearly 3 percent form the year before.

Hotels, motels and restaurants appear to be doing fairly well thanks to Cape Girardeau's location as well as having events year-round that draw people for overnight stays. These include the American Junior Golf Association's Rolex Tournament, softball tournaments, state and regional meetings of large organizations and River Campus shows.

The fiscal year 2009 sales tax figures continue a five-year trend that has seen revenue go up by about 30 percent over five years. The biggest year for hotels and motels was 2006 when the new Holiday Inn Express opened. Restaurants saw a good jump in revenue in 2007, with solid increases in both of the following years.

Positive sales tax receipts are good news.