If Catoosa County’s stream of revenue from sales taxes were a medical condition, it could probably be listed as fair.
Throughout 2010 there was a slight trend of improving revenue and when retail giant Costco announced it would open a store in time for back-to-school shopping there was a general expectation that revenues would rise – and sharply.
So far, that is not what happened.
Costco’s Oct. 28, 2010, opening was slightly later than originally planned, but more surprising was the less-than-anticipated affect the store’s sales had on revenue during November, its first full month of operation.
“The November financial report is a little disappointing,” the Catoosa County Finance Officer Carl Henson said during a called Economic Development Authority board meeting last Monday. “Collections were down compared to the prior year, we didn’t see the [expected] grand opening figures from Costco.”