May 13th, 2008
Sales tax collections decline in San Marcos for second month

From the city of San Marcos

For the second month in a row, city of San Marcos sales tax collections showed a slight decline, although for the city’s fiscal year, sales are up more than 6 percent over the previous period.

The May 2008 report from the state comptroller showed collections for San Marcos of $1,717,419, a decrease of $10,338, or six-tenths of one percent, from May 2007. The May report reflects sales that took place in March.

For the fiscal year the city has collected $10,858,407 or $648,430 (6.35 percent) more than the fiscal year-to-date last May.

For February and March reports, San Marcos received record-setting sales tax revenues, increasing 12 percent and 15.68 percent over the previous year for those months.

“We use very conservative budget estimates for planning revenue from sales taxes,” said Rosie Vela, the city’s Finance department director. “We are still taking in more sales tax revenues than we projected in the budget. However, even the slight decline indicates that we must monitor revenues in the next few months very closely.”

The City’s fiscal year runs from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008.

— MELISSA MILLECAM