City April sales tax increases from previous year

The city's 1 percent general sales tax revenues increased in April compared to the year before - only the second year-to-year increase since September.

The city received $3.5 million in its April sales tax check, up 2.4 percent from the $3.4 million the year before. For fiscal 2010 to date, sales tax figures total $29.9 million, down 8 percent from the first 10 months of fiscal 2009.

The increase, which represents mostly January purchases, is welcome news following the city's March announcement that it would be cutting $780,000 from the current year budget due to lackluster revenue performance.

The announcement was the third of the fiscal year, following $1.27 million cut in January and nearly $1 million in announced cuts in September. The cuts have included management furloughs, reduced spending on travel, equipment and training for emergency personnel and continuation of an ongoing hiring freeze since the beginning of 2009.[[In-content Ad]]