County Sales Tax Up Third Straight Month

Crawford County’s general revenue sales tax was up for a third straight month in May.

According to a report by Treasurer Karen Sikes, the county collected $229,952.79, a 15 percent increase from May 2019.

It is the second-highest single-month collection in county history, surpassed only by August 2019 when $314,524.27 was pulled in.

Through the first five months of the year, the county has collected more than $1.1 million.

Projected revenue for the year is around $2.1 million.

Crawford County’s revenue dipped in January and February but has rebounded strongly in the last three months.

The county saw a decrease of 16 percent and 5 percent in the first two months.

When the pandemic hit in March, forcing non-essential businesses to close or modify services, revenues went up. The county collected $185,308.35 that month, a 10 percent jump from March 2019.

The momentum carried over into April. Collection was up 39 percent year-over-year, and the county hauled in another $185,000.

June’s collection should be available in the next week or so. It has traditionally been one of the county’s strongest months. Last year, $169,282.48 was collected. 

July is one of the weaker months, and revenue typically explodes in August.

LEO/CI

The county’s separate law enforcement and capital improvement sales taxes each were up 18 percent in May.

The taxes brought in $114,371.63.

Collection has been up four straight months for those funds. February saw a 2 percent jump; March resulted in a 10 percent increase, and April brought a 32 percent bump.

Through the first five months 2020, more than $538,000 has been collected, more than half of what was accumulated during 2019.