Jamestown sales and use tax collections rise
Jun. 22—The retail sector in Jamestown had one of its best first quarters ever this year, according to statistics released by the North Dakota Office of State Tax Commissioner.
The retail sector for Jamestown reported $32.6 million in taxable sales and purchases in January, February and March of 2021. This is a 14.1% increase from 2020 with $28.6 million in sales and $26.6 million in 2019. The $32.6 million appears to be the most retail activity in Jamestown during the first quarter of any year, according to the North Dakota tax department.
Emily Bivens, executive director of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, said the first quarter of 2021 followed the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in the Jamestown area with as many as 500 people actively ill at the peak in November.
"I can't really explain it," she said, "but most recently we are seeing people who want to get out and do stuff including shopping."
This year's increase is compared to the first quarter of 2020. While coronavirus was a major topic of news and discussion in early 2020, quarantining and business closures did not occur until the last weeks of March and the 2020 first quarter.
The fourth quarter of the year is usually the strongest for retail sales with totals of as much as $38 million in some recent years, according to statistics from the tax department.
The retail sector was part of the overall growth in the Jamestown economy. The total taxable sales and purchases for Jamestown in the first quarter were $57.2 million, a 10.6% increase from the same quarter in 2020.
For comparison, the state of North Dakota saw a 9.9% decrease during the same period.
Taxable sales and purchases for the manufacturing sector increased by 59.3% from $1.8 million in 2020 to $2.9 million in 2021.
"Our manufacturing sector is healthy," said Connie Ova, CEO of the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp., noting there is still room to grow in that sector.
"The common mantra among the manufacturers is if they had more people, they could do more," she said.
Other sectors showing growth included construction, up 67.6%, going from $864,000 in 2020 to $1.4 million in 2021; finance, real estate and leasing, up 17.1% rising from $409,000 to $479,000; and accommodations and food service which showed a 1.1% increase from $8.3 million to $8.4 million.
Food service remains below the $9.3 million in sales seen in the first quarter of 2019.
Wholesale trade showed a 33.7% decrease, from $7.7 million to $5.1 million. Professional services were also down 8.6% from $568,000 to $519,000.
Of the 50 largest cities in North Dakota, 12 saw decreases in taxable sales and purchases in the first quarter of 2021. The biggest decrease was in New Town where taxable sales and purchases declined 66%.
Linton saw the biggest increase with a 51% jump in taxable sales and purchases based on $3.1 million in total sales.
