Capital-facilities tax nearly complete If you feel like you've cut back on spending this year, you're probably right — and you're not alone.Park County's sales tax collections have sagged in recent months, though not as severely as elsewhere in the state.

In Wyoming, May and June collections sunk an average of 21 percent compared to 2008, according to figures released last week by the state Department of Revenue. In Park County, that dip has been milder — right around 15 percent.

However, that sour finale to fiscal year 2009 (which ended June 30) wasn't enough to ruin an otherwise solid year of sales in the area. The 4-percent state sales tax and 1-percent county-wide capital-facilities tax brought in $32,722,323 in Park County last year.

That total was just $68,437 lower than the previous year — a dip of roughly two tenths of a percent.

Roughly speaking, for every dollar that sales tax collections drop, local governments — such as the city of Powell and Park County — lose around 33 cents in revenue.

But for local officials, the news hasn't been too dire. Thanks to conservative budgeting, collections for the last fiscal year actually came in a touch higher than projected.

State predictions for the coming year say that revenue will sink, but not by too much.

“They are projecting that it's going to be down a little, but whether it will or whether it won't remains to be seen,” said Park County Treasurer Nena Graham-Burke.

The state department of revenue says the industries hit hardest include mining, wholesale trade (heavy equipment and construction sales) and retail trade (including automobile sales).

Graham-Burke speculated that the county's emphasis on tourism has helped it fare better than other parts of the state.

Collections will likely drop by several million dollars next year, but that won't be due to an economic slump — it's because the 1-cent capital-facilities tax is coming off in October.

Nearly all of the $13.2 million capital-facilities tax is already in the bank; at the end of June, less than $148,000 remained to be collected, said Graham-Burke.

The tax will remain on until Sept. 30 — and almost certainly generate extra revenue, which must be stored in a fund for at least a year to give businesses a chance to reclaim any overages. That's because, by statute, the tax can only be removed at the beginning of a quarter. With receipts still a bit short, July 1 was too soon.

“We wouldn't have had the projects paid for and plus we wouldn't have been able to spend that for a year,” said Graham-Burke.

Despite the recent talk of sales slowing, the capital-facilities tax generated money faster than expected. When it ends in October, it will have been in effect for 28 months, instead of the 36 originally projected.

The capital-facilities tax brought in $5.3 million across the county in fiscal year 2009.