The City of Grand Junction’s August revenue report, reflecting retail activity in July, shows sales-tax collections up 5 percent compared with the same period a year ago, while use-tax collections declined 11.1 percent. Overall, combined sales and use-tax collections for July retail activity increased 4.2 percent year over year.

National economic data were generally consistent with the city’s sales-tax results, the city said in a newsletter. U.S. retail and food-services sales were 5 percent higher through July than 2025.

Inflation also accounts for a portion of the nominal growth in taxable sales. Although it is not a direct measure of the city’s taxable sales base, Core CPI, which excludes the more volatile food and energy categories, increased 2.5 percent over the 12 months ending in July.

According to the city’s newsletter, this suggests that some portion of the increase in sales tax collections reflects higher prices, while the remainder may reflect growth in the underlying volume and mix of taxable activity.