Greenwood finance director reports modest sales-tax gains, contingency above target

Tom Marsh, Greenwood's finance director, presented a detailed sales-and-use tax update at the July 6 council meeting, saying the city’s 2% local tax is "up just under a half percent" for June versus year-earlier receipts and that year-to-date cumulative growth stands at roughly 6.27%.

Marsh told council the city has collected $2,000,097.03 on the 2% levy so far this year and that the favorable variance versus budget is about $123,799. He said the county’s sales-tax distributions were also strong and that combined sector trends show manufacturing and wholesale trade contributing sizable gains while retail is nearly flat.

"We were budgeted at 0% growth," Marsh said, noting that a cumulative 9.46% year-to-date figure on some measures reflected stronger-than-expected collections and that online sales and certain sectors make up most receipts. He cautioned that part of the increase is driven by inflation, citing consumer-price numbers: "the inflation rate ... has now climbed to 4.2%" and core inflation was roughly 2.9%.

Marsh also outlined technical items that affect collections: an ongoing city sales-tax audit, rebate impacts (about $72,000 so far in the first six months), and an early-payment discount program that can stabilize remittance timing for the Advertising & Promotion (A&P) commission. He said the city’s contingency (reserve) balance is approximately $1,000,001, which is above the 25% policy floor and, if maintained at year-end, would be placed into a restricted contingency account.

Why it matters: the council uses these revenue trends when evaluating budget amendments, capital spending and reserve policy. Marsh recommended the council and departments continue monitoring sector-level data and the audit findings that may return additional funds to the city.

The council had no further action on the report; staff will continue regular financial updates.