Swift but uneven recovery from Helene continues
After a disastrous September and October, some — but not all — counties impacted by Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27 are getting back to business as usual.
Taxable spending in the 28 counties most affected by Helene during September and October 2024 dropped by roughly $380 million compared to the same months in 2023, causing state sales tax collections in those counties to come in more than $18 million shy of previous year totals.
Numbers just released by the North Carolina Department of Commerce for collections made in November 2024 show a quick rebound in most counties, making up for some of the spending that didn’t take place in September and October.
Mitchell, Yancey and Buncombe counties had the worst September of the 28 counties, with sales tax collections down 29.8%, 25.3% and 17.7%, respectively. Rounding out the top five were Transylvania (-17.07%) and Swain (-16.39%) counties.
For October, Avery, Buncombe and Madison counties saw the most drastic decreases of 32.1%, 26.6% and 25.3% year-over-year, respectively. Transylvania (-6.8%) and Swain (-17.7%) remained down, but November’s numbers show marked improvement in nearly all storm-ravaged counties.
Avery County was up 15.9% compared to November 2023. Mitchell County was up 3.4%. Yancey County was up 15.9%. Buncombe was still down 2.3%, but that’s a long way from being down nearly 30% for September. Madison County was down 3.1%. Transylvania turned its deficit upside down, growing 2.7% over 2023; however, Swain continues to slump, down 14.4% over November 2023 collections.
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Henderson County, second-largest in the affected area behind Buncombe, was down 12.6% in September and down 1.6% in October for a total decrease in collections of $1.3 million, but a 7.06% surge in November erased almost half of the damage for November and leaves the county down about $667,000.
Similarly, Haywood County, which was down 6.5% for September and 6.8% for October, saw a year-over-year increase of 4.0% for November. The September and October declines resulted in about $959,000 in lost collections, but the November increase produced growth of more than $202,000, leaving the county down about $750,000 in collections for the year.
Overall, taxable spending was up $113.9 million for the 28 counties in November compared to the same month in 2023. That’s a 3.9% increase that resulted in nearly $5.4 million in additional sales tax collections.
Against the estimated $380 million in lost taxable spending for September and October, November’s increases helped bring that total down to about $267 million.
Collections, however, don’t translate directly to budget revenue; a complex, convoluted formula determines the amount of sales tax revenue counties receive back after sen ding the collections to Raleigh.
For example, during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, Haywood County collected more than $59 million in state sales taxes on $1.24 billion in taxable sales. Over the past few years, the county’s $106 million budget has benefitted from around $16 million in state sales tax distributions each year.
The loss of about $750,000 in collections, therefore, will result in far less than a 2% decrease in actual distributions that make their way into the county’s annual budget.
