Aberdeen continues to rake in radically more sales tax than it did last year. The October report on municipal tax due shows that Aberdeen raked in $1.93 million in municipal sales tax last month, 19.96% more than it did in October 2019. That’s the largest one-year improvement among the ten largest reporting municipalities in South Dakota:
Spearfish also saw a double-digit-percentage increase in municipal sales tax receipts compared to October 2019, and Rapid City saw a healthy 5.55% increase. Yet Pierre and Watertown only saw a bit better than 1% growth, Sioux Falls barely budged, and Mitchell, Yankton, Huron, and Brookings all sank.
Aberdeen has been the sales tax growth leader among the big towns all year, posting double-digit-percentage gains every month since April, topped by a bonkers 49.27% surge in July.
Elisa Sand reports Aberdeen’s boost is coming from manufacturing, construction and retail:
City officials have previously pointed to increases in sales tax from manufacturing as one reason for the continued increases. While that has eased in recent months, it’s still more than double sales reported in 2019. For example, taxable sales in manufacturing were $4.2 million in the September 2019 report and $4 million in the October 2019 report. In comparison, this September’s report showed $19.5 million in taxable sales. The total was nearly $10.6 million in October’s report.
Taxable sales are also up in other construction and retail trade [Elisa Sand, “City Sales Tax Receipts Continue to Show Huge Monthly Increases,” Aberdeen American News, 2020.11.17].
Only ten people have died in Brown County from coronavirus so far, so, you know—acceptable losses. Keep those sales tax dollars coming!
Not bringing sales tax in for Aberdeen this year: Coronavirus led the Aberdeen Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Department and the Aberdeen Area Arts Council canceled the Winterfest craft and vendor show scheduled for this weekend. Coronavirus has also induced the cancellation of the mystery dinner theater scheduled for the Elks Lodge this weekend.
Just a thought: since we’re so far ahead on sales tax from the last seven months, maybe Aberdeen could afford to shut down all the big social gatherings for the rest of the year to give coronavirus a chance to cool down and the hospitals a chance to catch up.
At least 10 have died of covid in the last 2 weeks at one old folks home on melgard
It sounds like Aberdeenites are doing well, mostly exercising personal responsibility, and enjoying life. Is that Sammy’s breakfast joint still open? Someday I hope to get back to Aberdeen and add to the sales tax there with a huge breakfast. Probably not in the winter, though. Nobody likes Aberdeen in the winter.