Cole County is on pace to see nearly 2 percent growth in sales tax revenue over last year, although revenue from the county's half-cent improvement sales tax is coming in at almost the same rate as this time last year.
The county's tax collection rate is up 1.96 percent year to date, Cole County Finance Officer Debbie Malzner reported.
Malzner said the county collected $493,718 over the last month compared to $493,382 in 2017.
The county so far has collected nearly $5.4 million for 2018 and collected a total of nearly $6.4 million in 2017.
The county's EMS sales tax so far has collected more than $5.3 million this year. When county voters approved the half-cent sales tax in 2008 to fund operation of countywide ambulance coverage, it was coupled with a property tax rollback that reduced what the county could collect from real estate and personal property taxes. Last year, after the rollback, the county netted $2.5 million from that sales tax.
The half-cent law enforcement sales tax, which funds the Sheriff's Department and jail, has collected more than $5.3 million so far in 2018. Last year, the county collected $6.3 million from that sales tax.