Fort Collins retail sales see a boost
Stronger Black Friday sales and renewed consumer confidence helped boost retail sales in Fort Collins in November pushing the city to its strongest retail performance since 2007.
December sales tax collections, up 3.2 percent, reflect November sales. While the numbers were positive, the city’s interim finance director hoped for more.
“There was so much positive news nationwide, I expected our number to be a little bit more,” John Voss said. “I thought there was a real positive mood out there.”
Sales tax revenue finished the year up 3.2 percent, the first time it has risen more than 2 percent in nearly five years.
Use taxes, those taxes paid on building permits, cars purchased outside Fort Collins and return taxes paid on business products, rose 19.7 percent for the year, mostly on the back of a 49 percent jump in building permit tax revenue.
Together, the two taxes posted a 4.5 percent gain generating nearly $74 million.
