EDITOR’S NOTE: Figures in a report posted Monday erroneously were represented sales tax revenues. Instead the figures represented gross retail sales. Here is a corrected report.
Most of the North Olympic Peninsula is still struggling to recover from the recession, sales tax figures show.
Sales tax revenue last year remained below 2007 levels for Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend and the unincorporated areas of Clallam and Jefferson counties, according to the state Department of Revenue.
The tide has begun to turn in Clallam County, which shows slight increases in revenue in 2010 over 2009, while Jefferson County revenues last year lagged behind those of 2009.
Port Angeles’ share of sales tax revenue was nearly $2.8 million in 2010. That’s about 15 percent below the more than $3.3 million it received in 2007. In 2009, it received $2.7 million.
Sequim received $2.3 million in 2010, compared with $2.6 million in 2007. In 2009, Sequim received $2.2 million.
Forks, on the other hand, received more sales tax revenue in 2010 than it did four years ago.
Its share jumped by about 18 percent, from $365,206 to $432,886.
In 2009, Forks received $405,197.
Unincorporated Clallam County received $4.2 million in 2010. That is about 14 percent less than the nearly $4.9 million it received in 2007.
It’s an increase from 2009, when the area received $3.9 million.
The trend in Port Townsend has been more flat.
It received $1.63 million last year, which is slightly more than a percent less than the $1.65 million it got four years ago — and a drop from 2009, when it received $1.67 million.
Unincorporated Jefferson County had the biggest percentage loss.
It received $1.9 million last year and $2.45 million four years ago. The difference is about 22 percent.
It received $2.1 million in 2009.
Port Townsend did have higher gross retail sales last year than it did in 2007, even though its sales tax figures don’t reflect the upswing.
That could be due to the two-month delay between a sale and when the state distributes tax revenue back to the community, said Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
