The total sales tax collection in October for Archuleta County was $665,262.68, according to a report issued on Wednesday, Dec. 9, by Archuleta County Finance Director Larry Walton, with the town and county each receiving $332,631.34.
Walton reported that, on a year-to-date basis, meaning January through October, sales tax collections are $1,151,787 or 19.4 percent ahead of 2014.
However, $233,967 of that increase includes significant collections related to back taxes, mostly from 2014 and 2013.
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. In October the back taxes were $433.
With these amounts factored out, the increase in sales tax collections related specifically to 2015 were $917,820. This suggests that the growth rate of the local economy during the first ten months of 2015 was about 15.4 percent.
Breaking the sales tax report down by sector, revenue generated by retail trade went from $274,439 in 2014 to $352,157 in 2015, for an increase of $77,718.
Revenue generated by accommodations and food service went from $97,932 in 2014 to $110,708 in 2015 for an increase of $12,776.
Arts, entertainment and recreation, a sector of the local economy that is greatly influenced by tourism, went from $5,640 in 2014 to $4,141 in 2015 for a decrease of $1,499.
The real estate industry garnered $11,423 for an increase of $213, while the construction industry contributed $12,175, for an increase of $928 compared to last year.
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