by Deb Hadachek – Telescope News
Water and wind. Those two elements have been a windfall of epic proportions for sales tax revenues in Washington and Republic Counties. While sales tax revenues statewide increased 6.4 percent in the period from January to June, Washington County skyrocketed 575%, from $323,000 to $2.1 million and Republic County 40 percent, from $618,000 to $867,000.
Washington County’s jump has been attributed to the cleanup of the Exxon-Mobile oil pipeline leak that affected Mill Creek and the surrounding environs. The effort brought hundreds of workers and fleets of vehicles to the county beginning in December and continuing.
Washington County collects a one cent sales tax. The Washington County News reports at least part of that county’s windfall may be used to create a countywide ambulance service.
Republic County collects a two cent sales tax. A little more than a half cent goes to Republic County for property tax relief; another half is divided among all the cities in the county. One cent goes to Republic County Hospital for building maintenance and operations. The numbers in Republic County have
been bolstered by the construction of the High Banks Wind Project and the number of workers living in the county. In the month of June alone, sales tax revenues were 72 percent higher than a year ago.
Washington and Republic Counties had the two of the three biggest gains in sales tax in the state. Collections in Osage County increased 48 percent. By comparison, sales tax collections in Cloud County increased 7.8 percent.
Collections in Belleville increased about 20 percent for the first half of the year. A half cent sales tax to fund the new swimming pool generated $115,000, compared to $96,000 in the same time period a year ago.
Concordia has an additional one cent sales tax on top of the county sales tax, which increased 8.8%. In dollars, the Concordia sales tax generated almost $700,000 for the first half of 2023, compared to $642,000 a year ago.
County Commissioner Doug Garman noted that some of the sales tax increase is due to inflation. “Sales tax is up a little everywhere I’ve been, but not to the extent yours is,” noted county auditor Randy Hofmeier.
Set 2024 budget
County Commissioners adopted a proposed 2024 budget on Monday funded by 80 mills, a decrease of about $200,000 in tax collections from the 2023 budget. The budget calls for $7.2 million in property tax revenues to fund county operations, compared to $8 million a year ago.
Part of the decrease was attributed to revenue sources like sales tax that are generating more money than anticipated when the 2023 budget was planned.
