Room, Food Taxes Dip In November

OCEAN CITY – The resort’s room tax receipts dropped 10 percent in November, from $149,162 last year to $134,349 this year, according to the Worcester County Treasurer’s Office.

For the first 11 months of 2009, room tax figures are down 2 percent from 2008 but up over 2007 by 8 percent. Through November in 2009, collections total $11,099,380 compared to $11,309,573 in the first 11 months of 2008.

As far as food tax goes, $29,212 was collected in November of 2009. That is down from $64,333 in November of 2008. However, when comparing food tax, it’s important to remember the tax collected decreased in June from 1 percent to a half of a percent. Therefore, the numbers are skewed. For the proverbial apples-to-apples comparison, the amount collected in November of 2009 needs to be doubled, resulting in an accurate 9-percent decrease from November of 2008.