Rock County sales tax collections falling

By ERIC STEURER ( Contact ) Monday, Aug. 30, 2010

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JANESVILLE — One half of 1 percent doesn’t sound like much, but multiplied by thousands, it can contribute significantly to county coffers.

And in the case of Rock County’s county sales tax, it has.

In addition to the Wisconsin sales tax of 5 percent, the county imposes a .5 percent sales tax on all retail purchases to fund county operations.

But county sales-tax revenue has dipped since it took effect April 1, 2007.

In 2007, the county took in $6.78 million in sales tax over nine months. In 2008, revenue swelled to $10.5 million, but last year, collections dropped to $9.8 million.

This year, with the county continuing to cope with high unemployment in Janesville and Beloit, the county budgeted for only $8.8 million in sales-tax revenue, said Craig Knutson, county administrator.

When the county board approved the sales tax, supporters noted the money would be used to help pay for capital projects, such as jail expansion and improvements at the University of Wisconsin-Rock County. Those plans quickly changed.

“As each year has gone by, we have had to divert more and more of the sales tax to operational costs as opposed to capital costs,” Knutson said.

Such costs include salaries, benefits and contracts for services.

Read the full story in the Aug. 29, 2010 e-edition of The Janesville Messenger, HERE.

getabike
Aug 30, 2010 at 11:59 a.m.
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Why is it that I have to read a story about Rock County on the Walworth County Today site?

Rawhide
Aug 30, 2010 at 9:50 a.m.
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No different then what the state of Illinois did with the tolls on the interstate system.

mentor397
Aug 30, 2010 at 9:43 a.m.
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Perhaps that's why the vote to impose it failed so many times before it finally squeaked through. It should never have been passed in the first place.

ozzman99
Aug 30, 2010 at 9 a.m.
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Wow What a surpirse here! The money wasn't used for its intended purpose of capital improvement.

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