By Trish Svoboda

At a Rotary meeting held in Clay Center last week, Mayor Jimmy Thatcher noted that since April 2011, the half-cent street tax has totaled $5,352,990.60. The pool alone has totaled $5,317,359.01 and though it’s scheduled to be paid for in 2033, as it sits now it’s likely to be paid off six years early.

A lot of things have happened to make that possibility come to fruition. The average monthly half-cent sales tax around that time was around $28,000. This year, the month of June was $56,093 and is currently averaging 12% more than in 2022. The trend of growth continues and has been stable since COVID-19. More people started shopping smartly in the community, and there are internet sales that have become a destination tax.

Right now, the current average is about 12% more than what it was in 2022.

January is up 13%, February is up 22%, and March is up 4 1/2%. April was up 3 1/2%. June is up 19%.