Aurora sales tax up about 6% in March as variable business receipts drive gains

Aurora City collected $22.4 million in sales tax in March, about $1.3 million (6%) more than March 2024, driven largely by one-time, variable business-to-business receipts, city finance staff reported at the Finance Committee meeting.

"In total I tracked $2,950,000 of variable sales tax collections in March," Bill Levine, with the Aurora finance department, told the committee. He said the same companies accounted for about $800,000 in March 2024, producing a roughly $2.1 million increase year over year for the month.

The higher March receipts reduced the city's year-to-date shortfall against budget from about $2.5 million to $1.5 million, Levine said, but he cautioned that variable receipts are by definition irregular. "The bad news to make sure this is clear is that it's not clear that those trends will continue," he said.

Levine described the variable receipts as mostly business-to-business transactions that can spike month to month. He said that for the first three months of 2025 the city has collected about $9.3 million from taxpayers he classifies as "variable," compared with about $3.5 million in the first three months of 2024.

Committee members asked sector-specific questions. Levine said the electronics-and-computers sector is composed of two subgroups: larger, consistent retail sellers (for example Best Buy, Apple, HP, Microsoft) that are down 2.1% year to date, and a variable subgroup — often business-to-business sales — that is up about 67% year to date. Combined, he said, that sector is up roughly 28%.

"The consistent piece would include companies like Best Buy," Levine said. "Within that sector, year to date, my consistent electronic and computer companies are actually down 2.1%, but my variable are up 67%."

Committee members asked whether large retailers report single-category receipts. Levine said he receives a single total from a taxpayer such as Best Buy and allocates the whole amount to the sector for internal tracking, acknowledging the approach is imperfect.

On the budget outlook, committee members and finance staff discussed a previously cited potential shortfall on the order of $25 million for the fiscal year. "I wouldn't contradict that number," Levine said when asked if recent months change that projection. Greg Hayes, participating on the call, said he believed operating shortfalls were roughly $5.5 million to $6 million based on current trends.

Levine said the city's sector tracking shows 10 of 15 sectors are negative year to date; the gains are concentrated in industrial sales and computers/electronics, and mostly from variable receipts. Committee members pressed staff on timing: Levine and finance staff said numbers are typically finalized around May, with May–June the window for revising revenue projections.

The committee did not take formal action on the revenue update; the presentation was informational and staff answered clarifying questions.

Clarifying details reported by staff included the $22.4 million March total, $2.95 million of variable receipts in March, $800,000 variable receipts in March 2024 for the same companies, year-to-date variable receipts of $9.3 million in 2025 versus $3.5 million in 2024, and a year-to-date budget shortfall reduced to about $1.5 million through March.