By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
COLUMBUS, Kan. — The nation’s economic downturn is reflected in sales-tax revenues in Cherokee County for the first half of the year.
According to the Kansas Department of Revenue, sales-tax revenues are down in Cherokee County, and in all but one of the county’s towns with a sales tax, when compared with the revenues for the first half of 2008.
Galena is the only bright spot in the report, with a nearly 10 percent increase in sales-tax revenues compared with the figure for the first six months of 2008. The town’s 1-cent sales tax resulted in revenues of $79,618 through June, while the revenues totaled $72,486 at the same point last year.
“Business has been brisk in the city,” said Mayor Dale Oglesby. “You go downtown to eat lunch, and sometimes you have to park a block away from the restaurant.”
He attributed part of the increase to increased traffic from Orthopaedic Specialists of the Four States, which is constructing an $8 million building containing medical offices and a surgical center. He said some Joplin, Mo., residents also travel through Galena to get to Downstream Casino Resort, south of town. A new Chinese restaurant also recently opened on Seventh Street.
Oglesby said he expects the economic growth to continue.
Oglesby and state Rep. Doug Gatewood, D-Columbus, said they think road closures for highway projects contributed a 15 percent drop in sales-tax revenues in Columbus. The town collected $188,830 from its 1-cent sales tax in the first half of the year. For the same period last year, the sales-tax revenue totaled $222,219.
“That is a contributing factor,” Gatewood said of the road closures. “It’s a growing pain. It’s taken a lot longer than we expected.”
The Cherokee County sales-tax revenue collected for January through June was $899,792, a nearly 11 percent downturn from just over $1 million for the first half of last year. The county has a 1.5-cent sales tax.
The 1-cent sales tax in Baxter Springs resulted in revenue of $176,716 in the first half of the year, a 5 percent decrease from $186,275 for the same period last year.
Scammon’s sales-tax revenues were down nearly 11 percent. The revenue total for the first six months of the year was $8,285, compared with $9,289 last year.
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Cherokee County sales-tax revenue down
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