Despite the pandemic, taxable sales in Manitou Springs never really plummeted as they did nationally and globally. Manitou sales during 2020 trailed 2019 totals only slightly on a month-to-month basis and were actually a little ahead some months.
Sales in January 2020, when the pandemic’s severity was beginning to be realized, were barely ahead of sales in January of 2019. January 2021 sales were slightly ahead of that, a trend that followed into February.
Sales took off in March 2021 and haven’t looked back.
Total taxable sales through June in Manitou Springs were $71,884,963, which is 43.8 percent higher than in June 2020. The number of businesses conducting taxable sales increased as well, from 133 to 161.
None of the categories of sales the state tracks showed a decline in either monthly or year-to-date totals.
Collected sales tax through April 2021 is nearly $750,000.
The budgeted sales tax for 2021 was $6.5 million. This is being increased by 21.5 percent ($1.4 million) to $7.9 million, due to the sales tax revenue received so far in 2021 and the increased ending sales tax numbers for 2020.
Finance Director Rebecca Davis provided these figures July 20, when City Council adopted the revised 2021 budget.
Manitou’s sales leader, “Other in City,” includes retail marijuana. The category had sales of nearly $4 million in June, for 21 percent of the city’s June total. For the year, “Other in City” accounts for nearly 29 percent of all sales in Manitou.
The “Motels, B&B, etc.” category has suffered badly during the pandemic but was ahead of last June by 171 percent month-to-month and 106.6 percent for the year to date.
“Amusement/Bars” at 75 percent ahead year-to-year and “Shops-Gifts, etc.,” which includes downtown shops, at 92 percent ahead, also showed notable gains for the year.
Davis pointed out July 20 that Manitou was faring much better than many Colorado towns of similar size, unlike many recent years.
The figures can be skewed by the fact that some businesses report monthly and some quarterly. Delinquent payments are not reflected.