City Spotlights

Economic Growth

I am often asked how well our community is growing economically, especially when it appears that St. George opens a new business almost daily. Due to the layout and characteristic of Washington City, our primary business focus is on retail. Retail also provides a significant amount of revenue to the city in the form of sales tax. There are two key indicators that we use to gauge our status in business growth. The first is the number of new business licenses approved each year. In this category, the City has always shown a net increase in licenses and, for example, added 273 new business licenses in 2017 over 2016. The second indicator is our sales tax collection as a percentage of General Fund Budget. This number is compared with cities, across the state, that are similar in population, budget, and characteristic to Washington City. Sales Tax represents approximately 28% of our budget as compared to 27% of similar cities. So, as you can see Washington City is where it should be in economic growth. As we continue to add more residents and rooftops to our community our ability to attract and expand retail businesses will increase.

Roger Carter

City Manager

(435) 656-6314

rcarter@washingtoncity.org