This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake County's sales tax collections in 2016 were 4.4 percent higher than the previous year, more evidence of the county's solid recovery from the Great Recession.
Last year, the county took in $158.3 million from the seven types of taxes tacked onto retail sales. That was $6.7 million more than the 2015 total, said Rod Kitchens, county director of planning and budget, and $1.8 million more than predicted in June when a mid-year budget adjustment was made.
"We had very strong results for the fourth quarter and full year," Kitchens told the County Council on Tuesday. "The leading indicators also are pointing in a good direction. We're on track to meet our budgeted goals."
Just more than a third ($56.6 million) of the county's sales taxes come from the quarter-cent "county option tax" added to each sale.
That 4.3 percent gain over the previous year left Salt Lake County slightly behind the state average (4.5 percent) for growth in county option tax receipts.
The state's other large counties also had higher percentage gains than Salt Lake, although their sales-tax totals combined ($55.1 million) fell short of the county's sum.
Utah County's collection of $23.8 million in county option sales taxes represented 5.7 percent growth, while Washington County reaped 7.6 percent growth in its collection of $7.6 million. Davis County's county option sales taxes went up 4.6 percent to $14.0 million while Weber County's rose 4.4 percent to $10.7 million.
Kitchens said strong sales of vehicles, appliances and furniture over the past year lifted the retail trade sector to a 4.4 percent growth rate. Taxable services, which includes taxes paid for food, recreation and entertainment, went up 3.5 percent.
There was a 0.7 percent decline in taxable business investments, he added, speculating that hard times in the mining business had driven Kennecott and other mining companies to purchase fewer pieces of machinery.
Car rental taxes rose the most of any individual sales tax category (5.1 percent), followed by restaurant taxes (up 4.9 percent), county option and ZAP taxes (4.3 percent), and transient room and local option taxes (4.2 percent).
Kitchens said other leading economic indicators suggest Salt Lake County is in relatively good shape.
The value of construction permits issued in Salt Lake County in the first 11 months of last year was 35 percent higher than the same period in 2015, he said, far surpassing the state's overall 12 percent growth rate.
County unemployment is at 3.0 percent, just below the state's 3.1 average, while wages rose 3.8 percent and non-farm job growth was up 3.9 percent in September, the last month for which figures are available, Kitchens said. —
City sales taxes
Collections of the 1 percent local option sales tax rose the most in southern Salt Lake County cities. Here's a sampling:
Bluffdale • 21 percent
Herriman • 12 percent
South Jordan • 10.6 percent
Draper • 6.9 percent
Unincorporated areas • 4.2 percent
Salt Lake City • 3.7 percent
West Valley City • 3.0 percent
Sandy • 2.5 percent
South Salt Lake • 2.2 percent
Source: Salt Lake County