The total sales tax collection in September for Archuleta County was $910,147.74, according to a report issued late last week by Archuleta County Finance Director Larry Walton, with $455,073.87 going to the Town of Pagosa Springs.
All sales tax generated within the county, regardless of whether it comes from a business within the town limits of Pagosa Springs or not, is split evenly between the town and county , and the Colorado Department of Revenue continues to disburse all of the local sales tax revenue directly to the county, even though the town has been asking for more than a year to receive its share directly.
Walton reported that, for the first three quarters of 2015, sales tax collections are $1,009,871 or 18.6 percent ahead of 2014. However, $233,534 of that increase includes significant collections related to back taxes, mostly from 2014 and 2013, so the actual increase in sales tax collections was only $776,337 or 14.3 percent. The growth rate for 2014 was approximately 7 percent.
In January, $98,000 was attributed to back taxes, while in February this amount was $62,500. The amount of these abnormal collections continued to shrink each month until there were no back taxes collected in August. In September the back taxes were only $139.
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