As the tourism season nears its end, a more complete picture of how business has gone over the summer is emerging through sales tax revenue data from the Mat-Su Borough.
The three-percent tax, which goes toward Talkeetna’s water and sewer system, took effect in 2018. In 2020, tax revenues took a major hit starting in the spring when COVID-19 shut down the cruise industry.
This year, despite most cruises still not sailing, sales figures for Downtown and East Talkeetna have largely rebounded. Sales tax revenues for July were more than ninety percent of the average from the same month in 2018 and 2019. Last year, July brought in less than a third of that average revenue.
Some previous months from this summer have also been updated as businesses catch up on their taxes for the year. While May still lags behind the 2018 and 2019 average, June’s numbers have been updated and are now also nine-tenths of what came in during those years.
Since businesses have until the end of the following month to pay their taxes, August’s numbers won’t be available until early October.
