Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Ketchum LOT continues to drop

January receipts down 16 percent

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

The city of Ketchum reported that local-option tax receipts for January are down 16 percent compared to January 2008. This brings total LOT revenue collected for the first five months of the fiscal year to $685,590, about 21 percent less than for the same period one year earlier.

Ketchum imposes a 2 percent sales tax on lodging and by-the-glass liquor sales, and a 1 percent tax on retail sales and building materials, with the goal of offsetting the impacts of tourism on city services and infrastructure.

Liquor sales managed a 1.3 percent increase, the only positive year-over-year change in January. Building material receipts led the slide, decreasing by almost 32 percent from last January, with condo, lodging and retail receipts falling between 12 and 17 percent.

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The total received in January was $36,823 less than budgeted at the beginning of the fiscal year, and more than $200,000 less than budgeted for the five months collected to date.

The sharp drop in LOT receipts, along with a decline in development revenues, has led the city to readjust its projected revenues downward by nearly $600,000. To bring the budget into balance, the city had made a number of adjustments, including elimination of four staff positions and a reduction of payments to local nonprofit organizations.

Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com