Spending by consumers fuels county’s sales tax boom

Once again, sales tax collections in Ozaukee County appear to be headed for another record, with 2025 collections more than half a million dollars ahead of last year’s through the first eight months.

According to the state Department of Revenue, August collections in the county totaled more than $1.3 million,  the second best month in the 35-year history of the tax, second only to December 2023, when $1.43 million was collected.

That brought collections through the first eight months of 2025 to more than $8.43 million, $568,924 ahead of 2024’s record-setting pace.

With four months of collections left to go in the year, that brings total sales tax receipts within 69% of the county’s 2025 budgeted expectation of $12.23 million, with the high-spending Christmas season still to be counted. 

The county had been slightly behind the pace to achieve that goal this summer.

Last year, the county collected nearly $12.2 million, an increase of 11%, or $470,000, over 2023’s then-record collections of $11.73 million.

For budget purposes, the county has traditionally been more conservative in its projections when it comes to sales collections.

But that changed this year when supervisors drafted the budget for 2026. 

The 2026 budget assumes $13.2 million in sales tax revenue, using the Wisconsin Counties Association’s estimate, $500,000 more than what the county staff proposed.

The WCA’s estimate is traditionally higher than the county’s.

The county collects a half penny in sales tax on every taxable dollar spent in the county. The county receives 97.75% of that money with the state getting 1.75% and retailers keeping 0.5%.

Reporting of sales tax collections lag two months behind the actual sales month, so the August figures weren’t known until October and were reported to the county Finance Committee at its Nov. 21 meeting.

The county initiated a 0.5% sales tax in July 1991 to pay for the Justice Center in Port Washington. It was made permanent in 1999, with the County Board requiring it to be used as revenue to offset the property tax levy.

According to the state Department of Revenue, from 1991 through 1998, the sales tax generated almost $27.24 million for the Justice Center.

Since 1999, the sales tax has generated about $194 million, with that money going into the county general fund.