The city of Wenatchee could lose $1.5 million in sales tax revenue. | Unsplash
The city of Wenatchee could lose $1.5 million in sales tax revenue. | Unsplash
The city of Wenatchee could lose $1.5 million in sales tax revenue this year from the COVID-19 pandemic, Wenatchee World reported.
Mayor Frank Kuntz explained that there were major shortfalls in the tax revenue including a 22% drop from the previous year and a 24% drop in April. The city was able to hold their sales tax revenue rate in May.
“Then in May a whole bunch of sales tax came in,” Kuntz told Wenatchee World. “A lot of that was from transactions that took place in February... What you can’t tell is, are we really 22% and 24% down or are we break even?”
The Wenatchee finance director has stated that he expects the city to be short roughly 15%, which translates to approximately $1.5 million. Additional drops in lodging and fuel tax revenue could account for another half-a-million dollars, for a total of $2 million in lost revenue from sales tax.
“This is going to be a slower recovery than some think,” Kuntz told Wenatchee World. “I hear speculation that it may be a year or so before we’re back to whatever normal is.”
Alerts Sign-up