Grant County does better with sales tax revenue

EPHRATA — With three-quarters of 2020 in the rear-view mirror, Grant County is collecting more sales tax than it did in the same period last year. But the county government’s income picture is not all sunny.

Grant County Treasurer Darryl Pheasant said sales tax collections are 12 percent higher in the first nine months of 2020 than they were in the first nine months of 2019.

Also, the real estate excise tax, collected on real estate sales, is 9 percent higher through the first nine months of 2020 than the same period in 2019.

The county government’s increased revenue from sales and real estate taxes has helped offset a revenue decline from the cancellation of the concert season at the Gorge Amphitheatre. The county collects a fee on tickets and other sales at the Gorge. Pheasant estimated the lack of a concert season will cost the county about $1.4 million.

“We have a big hole to fill,” he said.

Property tax revenues are slightly lower than the budget projection, he said. More county residents have been paying their property taxes on time in 2020, so the county has collected less in interest and penalties on delinquent accounts.

With historically low interest rates available these days, the county’s investment fund is generating less than the budget projections. Pheasant said it has been a struggle to find investments that yield sufficient return.