Aurora sales-tax receipts rise in July; finance staff say boost will inform 2026 projection

Bill, a city finance staff member, told the committee that the city collected $25,400,000 in sales tax for July, about $1,400,000 more than in the same month a year earlier.

He said June revenue was up 4.7% compared with the prior June and that overall collections are tracking “roughly in line with what was in the 2025 budget.” He added the collections also align with a revised number that Greg Hayes discussed individually with council members to inform the 2026 budget.

Finance staff described a specific new taxpayer operating in North Aurora, near Denver International Airport, that began making large, consistent payments after the department had provided forecast data to the city’s leads. Bill said staff had increased the sales-tax projection for 2026 to account for that taxpayer and related receipts.

Committee members asked whether higher sales-tax receipts would eliminate the projected general-fund shortfall discussed previously. Bill said staff had increased the sales-tax projection by about $4.2 million for 2026 but also reduced the auto-use tax projection because auto-use tax collections are “coming in much worse.” He said the reductions in auto-use tax partially offset the increased sales-tax projection.

Committee members pressed whether the auto-use tax shortfall was a timing delay or a true decline. Committee discussion cited a leads projection that expected an $800,000 loss by year-end but observed that collections were down $1.6 million by May, leading staff to revise the auto-use tax forecast downward.

No formal action was taken; the item was an informational revenue update for the committee and for staff planning the 2026 budget.