by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB
Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: THURSDAY, February 20, 1992 TAG: 9202200067 SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HOLIDAY SHOPPING WASN'T ENOUGH TO GET THE RED OUT
Christmas shoppers gave a weak boost to the Roanoke Valley's retail sales in the fourth quarter, but the recession pulled last year's total down by $74 million on the region's nearly $2 billion market.A $10 million minisurge in shopping kept the October-December quarter in the black. But for the entire year, sales fell in all three valley localities, according to statistics released Wednesday by the state Department of Taxation.
Unless merchants "have a real good spring," Roanoke could end its fiscal year in June with a sales tax decline of 4 percent to 5 percent, said Jim Grisso, assistant city finance director.
The city's receipts from the tax on consumer goods and services for the first seven months of the fiscal year, July through January, were down 6.56 percent, Grisso said. Monthly sales fell as low as minus 21 percent in September and 19 percent in October.
Grisso said he expects gradual improvement this year. "Small positives are better than small negatives," he said.
The decline in taxable sales this fiscal year has been offset by a onetime windfall of $380,000 in a public service tax from a railroad real estate court settlement, Grisso said.
In Roanoke County, Treasurer Fred Anderson said he thinks the economy has passed the bottom of the recession.
His indicator of growth in car sales is his office's dwindling supply of auto transfer decals. Anderson said his decals will be gone by March 1, much earlier than the mid-April date last year.
Salem's finance director, Frank Turk, said the lack of growth in retail sales "is consistent with a very flat economy. It's not going anywhere." Sales tax collections have been up "a little, but if you adjust for inflation, we're probably even."
Turk said he expects business to remain flat through the first half of the year, "but you're going to see small improvement in the third quarter." He looks for growth in the months before the presidential election in November.
However, Turk said, he has no hope of a recurrence of the 8 percent to 10 percent annual growth of the 1980s. Salem shoppers have been shopping in Salem rather than in other valley localities since Wal-Mart and Kmart stores and Lakeside Plaza opened, he said.
"We would be significantly down without them," Turk added.
Declining sales totals for the year also were reported for the state and for 13 Western Virginia localities. The state total fell by almost $790 million, or 1.9 percent, to $41.2 billion, according to Taxation Department figures.
The six localities with higher sales last year were Bedford County, up 2.5 percent to $91 million; Floyd County, up 3.9 percent to $24 million; Giles County, up 3.5 percent to $68.3 million; Pulaski County, up 0.3 percent to $165.9 million; Rockbridge County, up 12.8 percent to $105 million, and Wythe County, up 0.2 percent to $155.3 million.
Those areas with declining sales included Botetourt County, down 5.2 percent to $71.3 million; Craig County, down 0.2 percent to $5.2 million; Franklin County, down 1.7 percent to $141.5 million; Henry County, down 2.6 percent to $233.2 million, and Montgomery County, down 5.1 percent to $403.2 million.
Alleghany County sales were down 1.1 percent to $35 million; Covington, down 1.4 percent to $78 million; Clifton Forge, down 4.7 percent to $22.4 million; Lexington, down 3 percent to $35.9 million; Martinsville, down 2 percent to $176.1 million; Radford, down 4.1 percent to $46.6 million; Bedford, down 1.5 percent to $66.2 million, and Buena Vista, down 8.6 percent to $24.4 million.
For the fourth quarter, seven Western Virginia areas and the state recorded higher sales than a year ago.
The state had a 1.2 percent growth to $11.3 billion.
Wythe and Pulaski counties were the only areas with higher sales in both the year and the final quarter. Wythe's sales rose 0.2 percent to $40.9 million and Pulaski's increased 2.1 percent to $44.6 million.
Lexington sales were up 6.3 percent to $10 million; Radford, up 3.4 percent to $12.2 million; Botetourt County, up 0.5 percent to $18.5 million; Franklin County, up 3.6 percent to $37.5 million, and Henry County, up 7.2 percent to $62.8 million.
Bedford sales were down 3.3 percent to $17.3 million; Covington, down 3.5 percent to $22.2 million; Clifton Forge, down 1.6 percent to $6.3 million; Buena Vista, down 4.7 percent to $6.1 million; Martinsville, down 6.4 percent to $47.9 million.
Alleghany County, down 8.7 percent to $9.4 million; Craig County, down 7.1 percent to $1.3 million; Floyd County, down 1.7 percent to $5.8 million; Montgomery County, down 9 percent to $109.3 million; Rockbridge County, down 1 percent to $28.2 million; Bedford County, down 2.6 percent to $22.6 million, and Giles County, down 6.3 percent to $16.3 million.