Local option tax collections in Ketchum indicate that tourism-related revenue continue to decline.
Ketchum collected 27 percent less in LOT revenue in November compared to the month's 10-year average, continuing the city's losing streak into the 14th straight month. November's LOT collections were also less than those of November 2008.
The city reported last month's LOT at just over $90,000, compared to November's 10-year average of nearly $125,000. In November 2008, Ketchum took in just over $110,000.
September 2008 was the last time that monthly LOT collections met or exceeded the 10-year average for that same month. From September 2008 until now, monthly lags have averaged about 24 percent behind their 10-year means, which indicates that November's being 27 percent behind isn't a sign of things getting better.
And this news relates mostly to the tourist industry's performance, since LOT—commonly called the "tourist tax"—comes from a 2 percent sales tax on lodging and by-the-glass liquor sales, and a 1 percent tax on retail sales and building materials.
Even if building materials were not included in the total, November LOT receipts would still be down 2.5 percent from November 2008.
However, some good news did come out of last month.
The city divides LOT into five categories: hotel rooms, condominiums, liquor, building materials and other retail. For the first time in four months, at least one of those categories fared better than the same month last year. Liquor and condominiums were the winners.
The gain was modest for condos, which gained only $12 on November 2008, contributing $1,243. However, liquor was the standout, collecting $11,500, a 37 percent increase from last year's $8,368.
Of any category, liquor's positive change is the first to be expected. Liquor and condominiums hold the best track record for the past 12 months, exceeding monthly figures for the year prior four times.
On the other hand, hotel rooms, building materials and other receipts didn't match the previous month's numbers even once in the last 12 months. Building materials has been the worst off for the year, trailing the year prior by $182,900, or a difference of 45 percent. Only $225,900 has been collected in the last 12 months, compared to nearly $409,000 for the previous year.
Looking at percent change, November was even worse off than the year's total in building-materials LOT, taking in 54 percent less than November 2008. In October, that was relatively the same with 52 percent less collected than October 2008.
And even though liquor pulled in more LOT dollars in November than it did a year ago, the gain wasn't enough to offset drops in the other four categories compared to November 2008. Lumping all five LOT categories together, Ketchum collected 18 percent less in November than the same month last year.
Even though LOT is taken from items often bought by tourists, LOT affects everyone because the money is used for the upkeep of city services and infrastructure—like the roads—which see more use because of visitors.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
Ketchum’s LOT revenues are following trends of the 10-year average, but at a lower scale. Express graphic by Coly McCauley
