2011 budget summary - St. Louis County

REVENUE FORECASTSALES TAXThe County has several distinct sales tax streams as illustrated in the following graph and discussed below.$90Ten Year Summary of Sales Tax Revenues$80$70$60$ in Millions$50$40$30$20$10$02002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010(Est)2011(Proj)Countywide (1.0%) Metro Parks (0.1%) Transportation (0.5%)Mass Transit (0.25%) Mass Transit (0.5%) Children's Services (0.25%)Emergency Communications (0.1%) Sleeping Rooms (3.5%) Utilities Gross Receipts Tax (0.5%)As reflected in the chart above, growth in sales tax revenues has been minimal since 2002, with average annualgrowth of 2.8% between 2002 and 2007 despite a 20% increase in the consumer price index over this same timeperiod. The one exception to this trend is the Utilities Gross Receipts Tax which increased 57% in 2007 and 19%in 2009 due to the receipt of one‐time settlements reached with cellular and telephone companies.Due to the sluggish national and local economy, estimated 2010 revenue for all sales taxes, excluding theUtilities Gross Receipts Tax, increases $48.4 million or 25.7% compared to 2009 levels. This increase is due tothe annualization of the Children’s Services sales tax, which was only collected for 9 months in 2009, and theaddition of the Emergency Communications and Public Mass Transit taxes in 2010. Revenues from those salestaxes that existed previously are estimated to decrease between 2.2% and 2.9% compared to their 2009 levels.The 2011 projection for sales taxes remains unchanged from 2010 levels, however those taxes initiated in 2010will be providing a full 12 months of revenue. Although it is anticipated that economic conditions may improve,a reasonable estimate of sales tax revenue tied to a recovery cannot be made at this time.- 54 -