Columbus” “cautiously optimistic” chief financial officer is on the verge of dropping the “cautiously” part.
CFO Mike Bernsen told the Columbus City Council last week the city had exceeded sales tax revenue expectations for the fifth consecutive month.
“It”s hard to believe. March will be mid (fiscal) year, and I, being a pessimist, am almost out of my cautiously optimistic stage,” said Bernsen Wednesday. “It looks like we”ve identified a trend. I would say six months would be a pretty solid indicator we”re recovering.”
Five months into Fiscal Year 2011, Columbus is up $287,000, or 8 percent, over this period last year. February”s sales tax receipts from the state, which represent December”s sales, show a $42,000 increase over Christmas season 2010.
Of the 7 percent sales tax levied by the state, 18 percent is returned to the city. That equates to 1.3 cents of each dollar spent.
The money goes into the city”s general fund for operating costs, creating a surplus after each month”s budget is met. But Bernsen says the city isn”t taking the money for granted or spending it as such.
“Even though we”re beating the budget, we”ve still got half a year to go,” he said.
He believes the trend is likely due to financial recovery across the board, but hasn”t checked to see how Columbus stacks up to surrounding communities. The 2 percent sales tax on restaurants, which funds the Columbus Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, has also risen steadily for a number of months. But a 2 percent tax on hotels, which was used to pay for renovations at the Trotter Convention Center and is now being applied to bond debt, has not grown.
“What that says is we have people coming into town to eat. They”re not staying here or the hotel tax would be going up, but while they”re here they”re spending money,” said Bernsen.
The best indicator of the city”s tax income, said Bernsen, is a “rolling” 12-month period which offers a broader view of trends. The city”s tax revenue peaked in the period from March 2007-February 2008.
“We”ve got quite a way to go to get back to that peak period,” said Bernsen. “But trends have gone up for a while now. We”ve had about 10 of those 12-month periods (since 2008) show increases.”
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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