Sales tax collections, a key measure of retail activity, continue to trend up in Mesa County..

The county reported collecting more than $4.1 million in sales taxes in November, a 1.7 percent increase over the same month a year ago. November collections reflect October sales.

Through 11 months of 2023, the county collected more than $45 million in sales taxes. That was up eight-tenths of a percent over the same span in 2022.

Mesa County collected an additional $17.1 million in sales taxes through 11 months of 2023 it distributed to cities and towns in the county. That included nearly $10 million to Grand Junction, $3.1 million to Fruita, almost $2.2 million to Palisade and $932,866 each to Collbran and De Beque.

For November 2023, the county collected more than $2.4 million in taxes on retail sales, up 2.3 percent from the same month a year ago. Collections increased nine-tenths of a percent for automobiles, 9.7 percent for food and beverages and 15.7 percent for clothing. Those gains more than offset a 1 percent decline in tax collections on home improvements and 2.6 percent decrease for general merchandise.

Sales tax collections topped $1.8 million for other industries with a 7.4 percent increase in the wholesale category, 7.5 percent increase for manufacturing and 8.3 percent increase for hotels and restaurants. Collections declined 12.1 percent for construction.

Through 11 months of 2023, tax collections on retail sales totaled nearly $26 million. That’s down almost $640,000 and 2.4 percent from the same span in 2022.

Year-to-date tax collections declined 5.5 percent on automobiles and 12.4 percent on home improvements, more than offsetting increases for other goods. Collections on general merchandise — the largest category at nearly $7.8 million — rose 1.6 percent.

Year-to-date sales tax collections exceeded $19.1 million for other industries with a 9 percent increase in the wholesale category, 5.2 percent gain for the hotel and restaurant category and 46.7 percent surge for the oil and natural gas sector.

Use tax collections — nearly all of them on the sales of automobiles purchased outside Mesa County, but used inside the county — totaled $353,669 in November. That was a 22 percent drop from the same month a year ago.

Through 11 months of 2023, use tax collections exceeded $4 million, down eight-tenths of a percent from the same span in 2022.