Sales tax revenue up 56% in July

COLFAX — Whitman County saw a 56% increase in July sales tax over the same month last year.

The state sales tax distribution will be $99,000 more than the same period in 2019, for a total of $274,252 going to the county’s general fund.

“It’s a nice surprise. It’s better than what we were fearing,” said Art Swannack, county commissioner. “On average, we’re about on par. I thought we might be down $500,000 when it looked like no WSU students may be coming back.”

The July 2020 total is a 28% increase over June.

“Because people are not traveling, they are shopping locally or online, so we get the...