Sales tax fall

The September sales tax rebate brought a single word to mind.
   “It was real disappointing this time,” assistant city manager James Zentner said.
   For the month of September, Odessa received a sales tax revenue of $1,585,156.00. That amount is down 25.88 percent from September 2008’s check of $2,138,761.57.
   According to Zentner, the city is now $34,000 short of its budget for the year.
   “The trend in decreasing sales tax,” Zentner said. “I don’t want to use the word disturbing; we weren’t planning for it to go down this much at the present time.”
   Of the sales tax revenue, the city received $1,268,124.80 while the Odessa Development Corp. will obtain $317,031.20. The Ector County Hospital District brought in $1,292,045.13 in September, a 38.30 percent drop from a year ago.
   In Midland, the total amount of revenue received was $2,400,826.80, which was a 28.24 percent decrease from September 2008.
   Economist Ray Perryman said in an e-mail that the numbers “make sense.”
   “In 2008, that was around the peak of the run-up in oil prices, and natural gas prices were also escalated,” Perryman said. “On the consumer side, unemployment was low and there was a lot of overtime available. Thus, spending was higher.”
   Perry said when you combine less oil activity with “the overall recession, more restrictive credit conditions and higher unemployment, the numbers seem reasonable.”
   Odessa and Midland aren’t the only ones seeing such drastic drops. Surrounding communities are also reporting a downturn in sales receipts.
   “I think the economy finally just hit here,” said Julie Wallace, director of the Andrews Chamber of Commerce.
   Andrews saw a 24.45 percent decrease in sales tax from a year ago.
   “A lot of the companies here didn’t layoff until they just absolutely had to,” Wallace said. “I think it just kind of caught up with them all at once.”
   For his part, Zentner said he doesn’t know when the failing trend will end.
   “The fact that the recession is ending simply means that gross domestic product is once again increasing,” Perryman said. “ That does not translate into an immediate spurt of activity in all areas or sectors, nor does it restore the prior peak that came about because of an usual set of circumstances.”
   Sales tax revenue is generated by sales tax income from two months prior to collection; September collection is based on July sales.
   OA writer Geoff Folsom contributed to this report.

   By the numbers
   Here is a look at April sales tax checks for area cities and how the checks compare July 2009:
   City Check  Pct. Change

   Alpine $ 91,560.93 down 3.4
   Andrews $ 253,112.68 down 24.45
   Big Lake $ 64,581.87 down 21.66
   Big Spring $ 414,460.12 down 23.76
   Crane $ 47,907.18 down 20.86
   Fort Stockton $ 196,579.53 down 20.72
   Goldsmith $ 15,059.13 down 41.99
   Grandfalls $ 2,272.88 up 1.38
   Kermit $ 37,804.06 down 15.23
   Lamesa $ 91,320.05 down 3.16
   Marfa $ 20,311.24 down 1.11
   McCamey $ 48,162.82 up 50.35
   Midland $2,400,826.80 down 28.24
   Monahans $ 141,411.41 down 6.95
   Odessa $ 1,585,156.00 down 25.88
   Pecos  $ 76,999.63 down 51.89
   Presidio $ 27,567.36 down 16.10
   Pyote  $ 775.32 down 34.6
   Rankin $ 5,997.51 up 2.6
   Seminole $ 88,180.81 down 13.81
   Stanton $ 24,694.63 down 14.07
   Toyah $ 423.00 down 72.77
   Wickett $ 8,809.87 down 56.83
   Wink $13,345.59 down 1.53