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2012 Sales Tax Collection Up

As you all know, I try to regularly report the county sales tax numbers in this column. These figures derive from that half percent sales tax Door County (and most other counties in Wisconsin) charge. Merchants, innkeepers, restaurateurs, etc. collect this tax and submit it to the state (along with the state sales tax of 5 percent), and the state then redistributes the county tax portion back to the appropriate county. These distributions can be found – broken down by county – on the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s website.

One of the things that is important to keep in mind when you look at these distributions is that the total for any month reflects exactly what was collected during the previous month. Each individual merchant (or innkeeper, or restaurant owner, etc.) may have differing deadlines for when the tax is due to be paid (i.e. monthly, quarterly, etc.). Thus, comparing January 2011 to January 2009, for instance, doesn’t provide any clear indication of an individual county’s economic health.

Looking at a broader picture of county sales tax collections, however, can provide at least some indication of the economic health of a county.

For some time, these figures were grim, as collections steadily dropped, which meant that spending on the peninsula had dropped. And in a very small, largely insulated economy like Door County, this had far reaching implications.

Halfway through 2011, I was happy to report that for the first time in a while, Door County’s sales tax revenue had increased. I was even happier to report that at the end of the year, sales tax revenue continued to increase and that 2011 was Door County’s best year since 2008.

In the column where I reported the year-end sales tax collections (Peninsula Pulse, v18i03, Feb. 3, 2012) I made the following comment:

“Looking forward to this year, if we can manage the same dollar increase as in 2011, we will be almost back to where we were in 2008 and will surpass the total county sales tax we collected in 2007.”

Well, folks, the time has come to see how we are doing through the first 10 months of 2012 and, as the table below shows, we are doing very well.

Through the October distributions, Door County has received $106,615.13 more than the same period last year. This represents a 4.4 percent increase from last year. And most importantly, this means that $21,323,026 more has been spent in the county (.005x = 106,615) during the first 10 months of 2012 than the same period last year.

And, if you look at the bottom of the table where the yearly totals are listed, you will note that, per my prognostication, Door County has surpassed our sales tax collections in 2007.

Of course, some of the collections/distributions this year could come for arrears collections (sales tax owed from 2011 or before that was paid in 2012); but, the fact remains that the county has over $106,000 more this year than last in its coffers, and there should be more money in our small, insulated economy this year as we go into the long seven months we call the “off season.”

Door County Sales Tax Collections