BrandonInfo.com

City sales tax revenue is up over this time last year. That could be surprising since house building permits are only about half of what they usually are at this time of year. Contractors have to pay a lot of sales tax on the materials they use.

But commercial construction is up this year, and commercial buildings cost more per square foot to build than houses do. So maybe that evens things out.

There’s no way to know for sure if sales are up at, say, the grocery store. The state provides sales tax revenue totals for the city but not the amounts for specific industries.

It’s possible that because gas prices are up, prices of all kinds of products are up as well, and that may contribute to the increase. Or, maybe people are just spending more money in Brandon than they usually do.

Are you? Do you make a point to Buy Brandon? Have you increased your Brandon spending in the last few months? If so, why? Have you made a conscious decision to buy in Brandon than elsewhere?

Has the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce’s Buy Brandon campaign influenced your spending at all?