August taxable sales in Estes Park – those sales that reflect commercial activity in the month when the sales actually occur, no matter when the taxes on those sales are paid – showed a decrease of 12% compared to sales made in August 2023.
However, overall sales year-to-date through Aug. 24, compared to the same eight months in 2023 have not changed since last month. The decline is holding steady at 4%.
The statistics were released Thursday by Sharla Beesley, grant coordinator in the finance department for the Town of Estes Park.
Sales taxes collected for August 2024 were $2,396,250. The Town’s General Fund receives 80% of these amounts, or 4% of the 5% tax levied by the Town.
The additional 1% tax was approved by voters on April 2, 2024 through June 30, 2034 for five special revenue funds, with each fund getting a percentage of the revenue collected: street maintenance (46%), stormwater management (28%), trails expansion (12.5%), wildfire mitigation (9%), and powerline wildfire mitigation (4.5%).
In August, big ticket sector collections were major contributors to the overall drop. Grocery sales decreased 15.48%; lodging was off 22.02%. The construction industry collections saw a 29.23% decrease.
Beesley’s report indicated some of the decreases could have been the result of some businesses missing filing deadlines combined with a general decrease in economic activity.
IMHO the drop in sales tax collections by the City was a self-inflicted wound caused by construction and the confusion it caused.
The town spent years designing and working on the loop project and a long time getting ready for the construction then decided to have the major part of the roadwork done during the busiest 2 months of the summer. It was a disaster. Just ask the downtown merchants. Worst July and August since the flood years. And of course they’re blaming the contractors. There’s a lot of that going on these days. I live and have a business near the corner of Elkhorn and Riverside and witnessed the entire fiasco during this summer. The business owners in the area reported that they were down anywhere from 20 to 50 percent. Some have left or are getting ready to leave. Next time get the business owners involved in the decisions of their future not a group of Board members who voted for it and are no longer around.
I agree Ed. We had a thorough public input at first with the loop. Then at the MPEC meeting it was shut down. After that it was all committee , engineers (mostly CDOT),and vested interests. And costs quadrupled. The loop basically cuts downtown in half, and permanently reshaped Estes in infrastructure and sense of community. A vote on issue Loop would of preserved many qualities that residents shared…now without vote we are diminished as existing populace. There is a process Called Charrette that would bring parties together in a mediated process forming consensus prior to other inputs. Now we the residents of Estes face PUP…and have to scramble thru petition to have our opinions heard. The town board votes what is presented them, quasi judicial, and many worth while resident comments are scattered to the wayside. A Charrette process would make these opinions heard during the infancy of a project , by all sides . and considered when pretense is not as deep.