County financial update: January sales-tax collections beat budget but commissioners eye cuts to outside agencies to narrow budget gap

Finance staff presented the county’s monthly sales-tax and general-fund update to the Spokane County Commission at its April 22 strategic planning meeting, showing January collections were modestly above budget but underscoring a lingering budget gap and resulting discussion about outside-agency reductions and flat departmental budgeting.Sales-tax and revenue update: Finance staff (presenter) reported that January activity—collected in March—yielded about $5,700,000 in sales-tax collections, roughly $200,000 over January 2024 and about 2% above the county’s January budget estimate. Year-to-date cash collections were $19,300,000 against a budgeted $18,900,000. A rolling 12‑month growth rate was reported at roughly 1.5% versus a recent historical average of 3.9%. Sector detail: retail trade was down about 3% YTD; construction was strong (about +20% YTD), with nonresidential building up 17% and residential building up 21% year-to-date. New‑car dealers…