The first year—actually the first 14 months—of Hailey's Local Option Tax reaped rewards better than city lawmakers had anticipated.
With August the final month of annual calculation for the tax implemented on July 1, 2006, the city realized a revenue of $462,721 said City Clerk/Treasurer Heather Dawson on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The city had originally added $425,000 into the 2006-2007 fiscal year budget for the LOT and now finds itself with about $38,000 more.
The tax, approved by voters to continue until 2010, is levied at 3 percent on car rentals and lodging, 2 percent on alcoholic beverages, and 1 percent on restaurant food.
Despite the Castle Rock Fire and the cancelled Wagon Days event, Hailey managed to rake in $47,208 in August, only slightly below the total for the same month last year.
Hailey officials attributed high July and August sales to some of the city's longstanding summer events, such as the Fourth of July parade, rodeo and antique fair, as well as the Northern Rockies Folk Festival. The average for the months of July and August in both 2006 and 2007 rang in at just over $48,000, compared to the average of $26,933 for each of the remaining 10 months.
Dawson said that November 2006 received the lowest LOT receipts, with $18,443, and July 2007 the highest, with $53,464.
At the council meeting on Monday, Sept. 24, Councilman Rick Davis requested the City Council consider giving any available funds to the Hailey Chamber of Commerce for marketing purposes to help local businesses recover from revenues lost because of the fire.
The City Council will have to decide at a future meeting exactly how to spend the extra revenue.
