Glenwood Springs’ economy faired well through the first quarter of 2019, at least on the retail front, according to the city’s latest sales tax returns.
Between January and March the city collected approximately $4.1 million in sales tax revenue, marking a 4.8 percent increase when compared to the first three months of 2018 when it hauled in roughly $3.9 million.
Glenwood Springs has an overall sales tax rate of 8.6 percent on general retail purchases, of which the city collects 3.7 percent. The remaining 4.9 percent goes to the state (2.9 percent), Garfield County (1 percent) and the regional transit authority (1 percent).
January’s highs and lows
Of the city’s 15 sales tax categories, “Furniture/Home Furnishings” experienced the most significant percent increase, whereas “Personal Services” felt the biggest decline.
In January 2018, furniture and home furnishing sales remitted a little over $19,000 in sales tax to the city. This past January, however, the furniture and home furnishings industry provided Glenwood with over $29,000 worth of sales tax, for a 53.4 percent increase.
In addition to the furniture and home furnishing industry’s gains, the city’s “motel/hotel” category remitted over $14,000 more this January than January 2018, for a 14.5 percent increase.
Although the city’s smallest sales tax revenue generator — “personal services” endured a 13.1 percent decrease in January compared to the same month last year.
February keeps moving
Typically, February produces the least amount of sales tax revenue for the city.
This year, though, it spelled good news for the “Transportation/Utilities” and “Building Materials and Supplies” categories in particular, which experienced 22.1 and 21.5 percent sales tax increases, respectively.
The transportation and utilities sector remitted a little over $85,000 in sales tax revenue to Glenwood in February, while the building materials and supplies industry produced approximately $118,000 worth of sales tax.
February was also a healthy month for Glenwood’s “Health and Recreation” category, as it remitted 15.8 percent more sales tax to the city than it did over the same period of time last year.
Just one category — “Miscellaneous Retail” — declined in February 2019 when put alongside the prior February performance, but only by 0.4 percent.
March and Marshalls
Following Marshalls’ grand opening at the Glenwood Meadows shopping center on March 14, the city’s “Apparel/Accessories” category experienced a 50.7 percent increase in sales tax remittance.
In March 2018, the apparel and accessories industry provided the city with a little under $62,000 in sales tax; that figure jumped to over $93,000 this March.
Heads in beds
Despite January through March being Glenwood’s off-peak season for tourism, the city’s additional 2.5 percent accommodations tax assessed on its lodging industry yielded higher returns through the first quarter than years past.
Over the course of those three months, the accommodations tax produced almost $30,000 more than it did over the same time frame in 2018.