A 5 percent drop in sales tax revenues collected over the summer should spur officials to press forward with plans to revitalize the downtown business district, Mayor Thomas Marcucci told the City Council on Tuesday.
“We are starting to feel the effects of the economic downturn in the form of reduced sales tax revenues,” Marcucci said. “It’s only 5 percent now, so we’re not in trouble yet, but we have to take action to stop it before it becomes a problem in the future.”
Sales tax receipts for May, June and July dropped 5.2percent below receipts in 2000, from $2.78 million to $2.63 million. Sales tax receipts in July were 9 percent lower than receipts for July 2000, dropping from $1.03 million to $939,000.
The influx of downtown residential development and the recent reopening of the expanded Jewel Food Store on Schiller Street could reverse the decline, City Manager Thomas Borchert said. But officials must boost downtown growth to guard against a long-term slump, Marcucci said.
The second phase of the city’s downtown comprehensive plan update will continue with a discussion by the Zoning and Planning Commission Sept. 27.The city will hold another public meeting on the plan sometime in October