The city of Cortez sales tax for 2013 is off to a rousing start when compared with 2012.
Figures for the month of February revealed a 11.8 percent increase in city sales tax over last year for the same month.
According to figures released by the city, sales tax figures for the month increased from almost $555,000 in 2012 to $654,000 this year.
Automobile sales went up the most at 97 percent, increasing from $27,570 to $40,243.
Lumber/home repairs numbers for February were 13.5 percent lower than last year for this month, decreasing from $14,043 to $10,972, while big box stores saw a slight boost of 5.43 percent, going from $260,000 to $292,000.
Restaurants saw an 8.5 percent increase by rising more than $5,000 from February 2012.
Other retail increased by just 1 percent, going from $238,000 to $251,000.
City Finance Director Kathi Moss said in the report that while the numbers in February were good, it does not mean March will be as good.
"Remittance forms were mailed sooner this year which means the number of filers was greater than last year. We will probably see a decrease in sales for March of 2013 in comparison to March of 2012," she wrote in the report. "In addition we had several filers bring their delinquent accounts current."
Lodger's sales tax saw a large bump over 2012.
According to figures released by the city, the lodger's February tax increased by 14 percent over February 2012.
The city received $5,338 compared to last year's amount of $4,665.
"We had some delinquent lodgers tax paid in February, which will skew the figures," Moss said in the email.
In the report, she mentioned all of the non-filers for the month totalled 31 and the number of city non-filers was eight for the month.
She also said in the report that non-filers would not have a significant impact on sales tax collected.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com