Cindi Holmstrom, the Director of the Department of Revenue, sent me this chart and the associated comments last week. It’s a sobering indicator of economic conditions.
Taxable retail sales provide a strong indication of the economic conditions in the state of Washington. The chart below illustrates the decline in retail sales tax collection over the past 3 years. Also included for the same period are auto sales and construction activity which make up a significant portion of our taxable revenue base in Washington.
All three categories are showing a year over year decline starting in late 2007