Sun Valley LOT revenues make
slight gain in January
By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
Local option tax receipts for the
city of Sun Valley rose slightly in January, affirming earlier reports
that the resort-area economy is improving.
Sun Valley city officials reported
this week that the city brought in just over $91,000 in LOT revenues in
January, a gain of 6 percent over LOT receipts from January 2003.
The monthly totals also bettered
those of January 2002, indicating that the city’s economy is indeed
showing signs of recovery from a sharp downturn in business that started
after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and continued through the
onset of the 2003 war in Iraq.
In January, the city recorded LOT
retail-sales receipts of approximately $35,000, a 19 percent increase
over the same month the previous year. Lodging-related LOT receipts were
down 2 percent for the month.
In a Feb. 26 presentation to the
Sun Valley City Council, Carol Waller, executive director of the Sun
Valley-Ketchum Chamber & Visitors Bureau, said the local economy is
showing tangible signs of improvement.
Waller noted that Sun Valley LOT
revenues for October, November and December 2003—the first three months
of the 2003-2004 fiscal year—were up 5 percent over the same quarter the
previous fiscal year.
Waller emphasized to council
members that although the region’s economic indicators are increasingly
positive, local administrators and advocates will have to stay diligent
in working to attract visitors.
Along with property-tax revenues,
LOT receipts are a critical source of income for the city. In the
current fiscal year, the city is expected to receive approximately
one-third of its general-fund income from LOTs.
Through the first four months of
the 2003-2004 fiscal year, Sun Valley LOT revenues are up 6 percent
compared to the same period during the previous fiscal year.