Madison Sales Tax Revenue Up, But Not as Much as Neighbors’

The glass is half full, says the City of Madison. City Finance Officer Jennifer Eimers reports that Madison's sales tax revenue increased 5.4% in 2012.

But the glass is half empty, Chuck Clement ends up saying it:

Looking at some other communities in the region, Howard's 2012 sales tax revenue decreased by about 17.5 percent from the previous year, dropping from $438,000 to $361,000. Colman's revenue increased by 18 percent from $150,000 to $177,000. Arlington received a 10.8 percent increase collecting $585,000. Salem benefited from an 8.6 percent increase that brought in $513,000.

The 10 largest cities in South Dakota also saw positive growth in their sales tax revenue during 2012. Mitchell led with the largest percentage increase of 9 percent, providing the city with $11.5 million. Watertown had an 8 percent increase in 2012 that amounted to $14.4 million in sales-tax revenue.

Sioux Falls collected $103.6 million in sales-tax revenue last year, a 6.3 percent increase from 2011. Rapid City collected $52.6 million in 2012 municipal sales tax, a 6.7 percent increase [Chuck Clement, "City Sales-Tax Revenue Increases by 5.4 Percent," Madison Daily Leader, 2013.03.07].

Sales tax revenue grew faster in every town Clement mentions except for Howard. I have friends in Howard, but if "We beat Howard" is your benchmark for success, you need a new benchmark.

Let me help Clement balance the story and buoy Julie Gross's spirits: Madison still beat Spearfish. Out here, our sales tax revenue grew just 3.85%. I'm obviously not buying enough stuff. But Spearfish also had $6.96 million in total sales tax revenue, compared to Madison's $2.90 million.