Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Steamboat Springs’ sales tax collections were down 1 percent in August compared with August 2009, according to preliminary figures the city released Friday.

Sales tax collections were about $1.29 million in August, down from about $1.3 million in August 2009. Collections year-to-date are down 2.9 percent compared with 2009: $11.1 million this year compared with $11.5 million last year.

The city has budgeted a 10 percent decrease in sales tax revenues for 2010. That decrease is on top of the 18 percent decrease budgeted in 2009.

The city divides sales tax statistics by category and by area.

Collections increased in 2.8 percent in sporting goods, 4.8 percent in utilities and 1.2 percent in restaurants. Numbers decreased 2 percent in retail, 4 percent in liquor stores, and 4.7 percent in lodging and amenities.

By area, sales tax collections saw the largest year-over-year improvement at the mountain, which was up 11.5 percent for August compared with 2009. Collections increased 1.1 percent downtown and 10.4 percent regionally. Numbers decreased 5.2 percent on the U.S. Highway 40 corridor and 11.4 percent in western Steamboat.

The numbers are preliminary and are subject to change when all the collections are in.

The final July numbers, releas­­ed Sept. 13, showed total July sales tax revenues of $1,445,934, representing an increase of 1.9 percent from July 2009. The increase in July revenues was the first such increase — meaning, a positive change compared with the corresponding month a year earlier — since August 2008.