Hoppel keeping close eye on sales tax
By MARY ANN GREIER
POSTED: May 20, 2008
LISBON — Columbiana County Commissioner Jim Hoppel said he’s a little worried about the sales tax, with income so far this year about $25,000 ahead of what it needs to average to reach the estimate for the year.
“I’m sure that fuel prices are going to start biting into it,” he said last week after revealing the latest numbers.
He explained that generally in the last six months of the year, the county collects more in sales tax income, but he also pointed out they’ve never had such an influence on spending like the gas prices now.
People could spend less on taxable purchases, which would then affect the county general fund, which relies heavily on the sales tax. The sales tax accounts for more than 66 percent of the income for the general fund.
Higher gas prices and higher prices for milk or other foods won’t help the sales tax since there’s no sales tax on those items.
Just last month, Hoppel reported the combined income from the 1 percent sales tax and the .5 percent sales tax was about $75,000 ahead.
If the income continues to drop, he said the commissioners may need to make some adjustments to budgets later in the year. The estimate for the sales tax for this year was $12 million. Through May, the amount received totaled $5,024,078. He said they should be averaging $1 million per month.
“We have to continue to keep a close eye on that,” he said.
Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net
