Sales Tax Revenues Up in Downtown

Sales tax revenues for the city's downtown increased from $38,407 in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $40,922 in the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of 6.5 percent. 

"It's a positive indication for our tourism program," said Mario Giuliani, acting economic development director for the city.  "But it's too early to evaluate the success of the program."

 Vice Mayor Alan Schwartzman said of the increase, "That's good news.  We need as much positive news as we can get."

"If the first quarter comes in higher than last year that would be fantastic news," he said.

"One quarter doesn't mean it's a trend," Giuliani said about the success of the tourism program. "It's positive news and I'm excited about it but we need to have a string of quarters to properly evaluate the return on investment."