Tax collections, a measure of retail sales, continue to increase in Grand Junction and Mesa County on a year-over-year basis.

The City of Grand Junction collected a total of nearly $5.3 million in sales and use taxes in February, a 14.9 percent increase over the same month last year.

Mesa County collected a total of more than $3.6 million in sales and use taxes, a 13.8 percent increase over a year ago.

Grand Junction lodging tax collections, a measure of hotel and motel stays in the city, jumped 68 percent.

February tax reports reflect January sales.

The city collected almost $4.3 million in sales taxes, a 13.3 percent increase. The city collected $89,292 in use taxes, a smaller and more volatile revenue source. That constituted a 55.3 percent gain.

The county collected more than $3.3 million in sales taxes for a 14.1 percent increase. Use taxes collections — nearly all of them on automobiles purchased outside the county, but used in the county — rose 9.9 percent to $299,000.

County tax collections on retail sales increased 5.9 percent from a year ago to more than $1.1 million. Collections on internet sales rose 8.5 percent to $237,113.

Sales tax collections also rose for other industry categories — 24.9 percent on home improvements, 13 percent on automobiles and 9.4 percent on hotel stays and restaurant meals.

For the first two months of 2022, the city collected a total of almost $12.8 million in sales and use taxes. Compared to the same span in 2021, sales tax collections rose 19.2 percent and use tax collections increased 76.3 percent.

Mesa County collected a total of nearly $8.3 million in sales and use taxes in January and February 2022. Compared to the same span in 2021, sales tax collections rose 17.2 percent and use tax collections increased 13.1 percent.

County tax collections on retail sales rose 11 percent on a year-over-year basis to more than $2.9 million. Sales tax collections rose 21.1 percent on home improvements, 20.9 percent on hotel stays and restaurant meals and 10.8 percent on automobiles.

The City of Grand Junction collected $204,900 in lodging taxes in February. 

For January and February, the city collected a total of $454,011 in lodging taxes. That was a 69 percent increase over the same two months in 2021.