County sales tax receipts show first decline in 11 months
Highland County's string of 10 consecutive months of higher permissive sales taxes over the comparable previous year months came to an end this month.
The October sales tax receipts (for August 2012 sales) were $470,343.51, compared to $482,562.19 from the previous year.
The $12,219 difference marked the first time in almost a year that monthly sales tax numbers showed a decline.
The September sales tax receipts (for July 2012 sales) were $499,390.48, compared to $477,925.99 from the previous year.
The August receipts were $461,342.61 (for June 2012), compared to $447,705.14 from one year ago.
"For the county to see $450,000 in sales receipts – with a 1.5-percent tax – that's $30 million in monthly sales," Highland County Auditor Bill Fawley told The Highland County Press.
Year to date, the county sales tax receipts are $307,869 higher than one year ago.
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In an abbreviated, 16-minute Halloween meeting, Highland County Commissioners Shane Wilkin, Tom Horst and Jeremy Shaffer passed several resolutions (all by 3-0 votes), including:
• Community Development Block Grant modifications;
• A contract approval for GradeCo on Hillsboro's West Pleasant Street CDBG project;
• Several line-item modifications in the county probation office;
• A $1,000 modification in the Common Pleas Court budget;
• Three line-item modifications in the sheriff's budget;
• A monthly sewer fee waiver for various vacant properties in the Rocky Fork Lake Sewer District;
• A $51,000 modification in the county engineer's budget;
• And a transfer of $2,307.68 in county airport budget for safety sensors.
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Commissioners also met Wednesday with Highland County Clerk of Courts Ike Hodson for an upgrade on its annual imaging software contract.
A scheduled meeting on a Mowrystown CDBG sidewalk project was postponed.
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Following the meeting, Commissioner Horst pointed out that the county will, as always, put the cropland in the Leesburg Industrial Park out for bid before any decisions are made. The county is considering a three-year contract in the future. In the past, the bids have been for one season.
Commissioners adjourned at 8:46 a.m. Wednesday.