Monday, September 21, 2009

The Pueblo Sales Dilemma

If you want it, you can’t buy it in Pueblo.

At least that’s MY personal experience with purchasing things in town of late. I mean anything more than bread, eggs, gasoline, toilet paper, etc., etc., etc.

More and more I find that things I need are either not available in town or they are over-priced.

And the city wonders at THIS…..

Sales tax is the Pueblo city government’s biggest source of revenue and the city’s August tax report brought more bad news for City Council - revenue was down 8 percent when compared with the same month last year.

That marks the eighth month in a row that sales tax receipts were lower than in 2008, unwelcome news as the city prepares to adopt a 2010 budget to cover next year’s operations. Currently the city is reporting a total decline in revenue of more than 7 percent for the year thus far.—Article in Pueblo Chieftain

The point being that more and more people are turning to the web in order to make purchases. And here’s something that came out today….

Fifteen years after Jeffrey P. Bezos founded the company [Amazon.Com] as an online bookstore, Amazon is set to cross a significant threshold. Sometime later this year, if current trends continue, worldwide sales of media products – the books, movies, and music that Amazon started with – will be surpassed by sales of other merchandise on the site. (That already occurred this year in its North American business.) In other words, in an increasingly digital age, Amazon is quickly becoming the world’s general store.—Article cited @ Instapundit

I have to admit that I do a LOT of purchasing on-line. Why? Because I can’t FIND what I need in Pueblo. Other than light bulbs, fresh veggies, toilet paper and such. And even the light bulbs may have to be purchased over the internet if this fiasco about CFL’s continues.

Why is this happening?

You Can’t Find It In Pueblo

That includes not being able to find a high-tech, programmable, blue-tooth mouse. I tried to find such here. I looked all over. Even the most well-stocked store for business electronics didn’t have it. They DID have several racks of the same product, which didn’t meet my needs. And it was a rather ‘slow-moving’ product too. Why their corporate HQ thinks they need to be ‘overstocked’ on such a product while not carrying other products is a mystery. And that’s happened MORE THAN ONCE and in more stores of different venues than that. To include mens clothing, as in suits. Have to go to C’Springs to get a good suit I like.

Where does the sales tax revenue come from if people have to go out of town to buy what they need?

The retailers in town are digging a hole for themselves. It will become a grave. Not only for their business activities, but also for public activities of the government.

And the answer is not to tax sales made on the internet. That would only exacerbate the problem. Why? Because whereas the city would benefit from relief, the local businesses would STILL be going down the hole to oblivion. And THAT would mean even MORE trouble for the city.

What IS the answer?

Maybe the local businesses ought to get more competitive.

Seriously…..why should I pay $138+ for something from a local retail outfit when I can get it for half that price (including shipping and handling) if I buy it over the internet?