Sales taxes show near-threefold increase in Talkeetna business over 2020

While not as high as in 2018 and 2019, sales tax revenue for this June in Talkeetna was almost three times what it was last year.

The sales tax applies to the Talkeetna Sewer and Water District, which includes Downtown and most of East Talkeetna.  Funds raised through the tax are used to pay for upgrades to the sewer and water system.

The tax also provides statistical data for how business is going in Talkeetna that wasn’t available until a few years ago.  In June this year, the three-percent tax raised just under $125,000, which equates to about four million dollars in taxable sales.  Last year, the tax generated about $43,000 in revenue.  This year’s tax revenue is about two-thirds of what it was in 2018 and 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sales tax data lags about a month behind, since businesses have until the end of the following month to file.  As of the latest update from the Mat-Su Borough late last week, thirty-two businesses had still not filed for the month of June.  Just over one hundred businesses remain on the active tax rolls, with seven dropping off since last month’s report.