City sales tax revenue drops again in December

Springfield's sales tax revenue woes continued in December, according to numbers released Thursday by the city.

The city's 1-cent general sales tax brought in $3.2 million, down 10.3 percent from December of 2008. The latest drop marks the fourth month in fiscal 2010 where sales tax revenue dropped by double-digit percentages compared to a year earlier.

For fiscal 2010 to date, the tax has brought in $17.4 million, down 9.8 percent from the same period in fiscal 2009.

City officials have said they will review the budget situation quarterly to see if cuts are needed from the current budget. In September, when the city was down $1 million after the first three months of the fiscal year, general fund cuts led to four layoffs, a continuation of the citywide hiring freeze, mandatory furloughs for all management and a 10 percent spending reduction for most departments.

Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea said the city needs to save another $900,000 from the budget, though $600,000 of that savings comes from open positions. Honea said city departments are beginning to look at where cuts could be made, so that the city manager's office can make a recommendation to Springfield City Council in late December or early January.

"We'll be working with the leadership team in the next couple of weeks to determine how we can save another $300,000 from the budget," Honea said. "It's going to be tough."[[In-content Ad]]