Kenai Peninsula Borough

Kenai Peninsula Borough
Community and Economic Development Division
Quarterly Report of Key Economic Indicators for Period Ending December 31, 2003

Kenai Peninsula Borough Sales

Sales tax records provide data useful for predicting economic trends and provide a basis for administrative decisions. Data collected are specific to the area collecting and reporting sales. By combining data from reporting communities, KPB trends can be determined. Routinely, three years or twelve quarters of information are revised each quarter. Sales data is provided by the KPB Finance Department, Sales Tax Division.

Homer sales data are significantly affected by the annexation of 4.58 square miles which increased the total area of Homer by over twenty-eight percent. This year, 2003, is the first year in which all four quarters of data relate sales of the new total Homer area. Any sales gains in the Homer area due to the annexation are directly offset by sales declines in the KPB unincorporated reporting area.

KPB sales data include detail from Homer, Kenai, Seldovia, Seward, Soldotna and “KPB unincorporated” areas. “KPB unincorporated” indicates areas within the KPB but outside the boundaries of the five incorporated cities. It also includes Kachemak City, which does not impose a sales tax. The 2% KPB sales tax is included in the city rates listed below, with revenues dedicated to funding the KPB school district. The balance is tax imposed by each city with revenues being managed by that city after collection and disbursement by KPB staff.

The KPB does not provide an incentive for reporting non-taxable sales, resulting in incomplete Gross Sales data.

6.5%	5.5%	5.0%	4.0%	2.0%
Seldovia	Homer	Kenai	Seldovia	KPB Unincorporated
(April - September)		Seward	(October - March)
		Soldotna

Gross and Taxable Sales data are received quarterly through Sales Tax Returns from businesses within the KPB. Sales that are exempt from sales tax assessments include:

	Sales outside the borough;
	Sales for resale;
	Sales to government agencies;
	Sales to tax exempt organizations;
	Sales in excess of $500.

Industry abbreviations used in sales data include the following:

	AFF - Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries - includes fish buyers;
	Min - Mining - includes Oil & Gas extraction;
	Const - Construction;
	Manu - Manufacturing - includes Oil & Gas Manufacturing and Fish Processing;
	TCPU - Travel, Communications and Public Utilities;
	Whole - Wholesale Trade;
	Retail - Retail Trade;
	FIRE - Finance, Insurance and Real Estate;
	Service - Services;
	Govt - Public Administration, Education and Services.