Cape County sales tax revenue on the rise

After dipping slightly in January and February, sales tax receipts in Cape Girardeau County rebounded significantly this month, according to figures released Monday by the county treasurer's office.

Just more than $775,000 in sales tax revenue was deposited in the county's treasury this month, an increase of more than 21% compared to last month's sales tax total of $611,856.63 and more than 5.9% above the amount the county received in March 2020.

This month's deposit brought the county's year-to-date sales tax total to just under $2 million ($1,999,872.10), about 1.9% below the sales tax amount received in the first three months of 2020 ($2,037,702.68) in what would eventually become a record-setting year for county sales tax revenue.

In addition to the March sales tax revenue, County Treasurer Roger Hudson also reported Monday the county received $775,057.83 this month in its Proposition One tax and $768,677.92 through the county's Law Enforcement/Public Safety sales tax, which went into effect last fall.

Meanwhile, the county's 1.5% use tax (equaling the total tax percentage of the county's sales, Proposition One and Law Enforcement/Public Safety taxes), generated an additional $260,949.49 for the county this month.

For the first three months of 2021, the county's use tax on out-of-state and online commerce has resulted in revenue totaling $820,028.87, compared to $445,479.65 the county received in use tax revenue through the same period in 2020. However, Hudson points out the use tax for most of last year was only 1 cent on the dollar compared to the 1.5 cents it is now following passage of the Law Enforcement/Public Safety tax.

Looking for more business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Visit www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.