Small Town News

Sales tax collection varies throughout the Verde Valley

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Tax collections for towns in the Verde Valley for March were comparable to the same time last year, but municipalities were still down for the year overall, according to figures recently released by the Arizona Department of Revenue.

The state collected just over $158,000 in Camp Verde, most of which came from retail sales and restaurant taxes, both up from February. Both sectors did almost the same amount of business as they did in March 2009. The service sector took the biggest proportional hit, with only $2,357 collected as opposed to $12,587 last year.

Hotel tax collection was down from February to $7,873, but that was still around 40 percent more than March 2009.

If business continues to hold steady for the remainder of the fiscal year, the state could collect more than $2 million from activities in Camp Verde through June 2010. Last year, Camp Verde generated just over $2.25 million in tax revenue.

It was a similar story in Cottonwood, where retail sales and restaurant tax collections actually exceeded their performance the same time last year. The state collected $539,711 in retail sales tax and nearly $70,000 from restaurants and bars.

At around $68,000 collected, construction activity dropped off nearly a third from February, and was well below the nearly $90,000 collected last March.

Real estate taxes remained about the same, showing a slight increase over February. Fewer visitors were staying overnight in Cottonwood in March compared to last year; hotel tax collections were down nearly a quarter to $15,330.

Across all sectors, the city generated $843,020 in revenue, up slightly from February but down slightly from March 2009. So far the city has produced nearly $8 million in taxes with three months left in the fiscal year. Last year, the city generated $10.5 million.

In Clarkdale, retail sales were down just a little over March 2009 'at $2,836, and a little more than half of what was collected this past February. Construction activity has generally been down all fiscal year, but gains in utilities and wholesale trade helped keep the amount collected by the state almost even for the month compared to last year. So far this year, the town has generated $446,000 in tax revenue. By this point last year, the town had generated more than $600,000.

Proportionally, Jerome was producing more taxable revenue in March over the same time last year, with $45,494 collected compared with just under $33,000 last year. A lot of that was thanks to more people eating out; the month saw about a 70 percent increase in restaurant and bar taxes over March 2009.

Overall, the state has collected more money from Jerome this fiscal year, $360,204 compared with $333,348 by this time last year.

Retail sales and restaurant tax collections in Sedona were up when compared to March 2009, but fewer visitors were renting hotel rooms. At $245,000, the hotel taxes were still up significantly from February, which is usually the case as the seasons change. Construction taxes were down more than 50 percent from March 2009 at just over $100,000 collected.

Overall, Sedona has generated $8,585,000 this fiscal year, compared to just over $9.8 million at this time last year.

Tax numbers for April are expected to be released later next month.

Mark Lineberger can be reached at 567-3341 or e-mail CVEditor@larsonnewspapers.com



Copyright 2010 Cottonwood Journal Extra, Cottonwood, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 Cottonwood Journal Extra Cottonwood, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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