Hockey players and figure skaters will be able to stay toasty warm this winter when the brand spanking new warming house is completed at the Cook County Community Center. Future plans are to have a Zamboni to clean the hockey rink and a skate sharpening area inside the facility. With the way the temperature is falling, it might not be too long before it will be time to make ice, lace up skates, grab a hockey stick and start chasing hockey pucks across the rink. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Cook County’s 1 percent local option sales tax through June 2019 is sailing along at a new record, up 10.3 percent for the first six months of the year over last year.
Each month the 1 percent sales tax increased over the same period of 2018. In January there was a 2.8 percent bump, February saw an increase of 3.5 percent, March was up 6.6 percent while April saw an astonishing 23.2 percent increase from April 2018. May 2019 climbed 7.7 percent over May 2018, and June weighed in at a 13.5 percent increase over June 2018.
What this means in dollars is that through June 2019 the county has taken in $698,110.72 compared to $633,118.26 through June of 2018.
Cook County transportation tax
If Cook County feels like it’s busier this year— in terms of traffic—it’s because it is busier.
From January 2019 to June 2019 the county’s .5 percent lodging tax is 13.6 percent higher than the first six months of 2018.
January 2019 was up 13.7 percent, February, 3.4 percent, March, 6.6 percent, April, 25 percent, May, 11.4 percent and June was 17 percent higher than June of 2018.
The county highway department is the recipient of these funds. Last year $295,666.62 was collected through the first half of the year compared to $335,923.80 through the same period this year.
Cook County lodging tax
If the other two taxes are up, the trend is down 2.3 percent for the collection of lodging taxes through June of 2019 versus June of 2018.
January 2019 saw collections of $49,870.11. It was the only month the lodging tax was higher than the previous January, which saw collections totaling $47,664.56.
February 2019 totaled $49,603.30 versus Feb. 2018’s $52,608.15 total; March 2019 was $63,436.08 compared to $64,150.59 in March 2018; April 2019 was $22,127.62 versus $23,200.86 for 2018 April; May 2019 collections were $38,376 versus $38,914.11 in May 2018; and June 2019 collections were $75,476.90 versus $79,395,93 for June 2018.
During this period, the Grand Marais Tourism Association was down 2.9 percent, Lutsen-Tofte Tourism was down 2.3 percent, and the Gunflint Trail Tourism Association was down 7.3 percent versus the first six months of 2018.
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