Valley cities continue to be stung by plunging sales tax revenue, but some smaller Valley cities, buoyed by gains in agriculture, have seen large revenue jumps.
Some cities say they expected declines and don't anticipate having to trim municipal budgets. But even some cities that saw gains are socking away the windfall in anticipation of rockier times.
Fresno, Clovis, Porterville, Selma and Sanger saw significant dips in sales tax revenue from April through June, while collections in Hanford and Visalia are about even with last year.
Sagging auto sales, foundering retailers and fewer out-of-town trips due to high fuel prices are hurting larger Valley cities, officials theorize.
The downturn in sales tax receipts comes amid a slump in housing, which is cutting into property tax collections. Sales and property taxes represent a bulk of the revenue that cities use to pay for public safety, parks, recreation programs and some road work.
"What we are hearing right now doesn't bode well for an upturn real soon," said Michael Coleman, fiscal policy adviser for the California League of Cities. "It will be here for a few more quarters."
Statewide, Coleman said, every region is hurting -- even areas that rely on tourism and generally have done better with sales tax revenues.
In Fresno, sales tax revenue fell 6.6%, or $1.3 million, in the second quarter. Renena Smith, Fresno's budget director, said the city still remains slightly ahead of projections.
"It was what we kind of planned for, but obviously, I was hoping it would be better than that," she said.
Clovis saw sales tax revenue drop 4.2% in the second quarter, the sixth consecutive quarter with declines. The decline added more bad news to an already difficult budget year. City officials dealt with a deficit of more than $5 million heading into the budget year that began in July.
Sales of autos and building materials have been among the hardest-hit categories, said Robert Woolley, the city's finance director. Auto sales, for example, are down 17% compared with two years ago, he said.
Tax rebate checks that were supposed to boost revenue in the third quarter do not seem to have helped much, Woolley said.
Selma's second-quarter revenue fell $179,000 compared with the same period last year. Much of that decline was attributed to the standstill in auto sales, which account for nearly half of the city's sales tax revenues.
"We knew that we were going to take a hit," said D-B Heusser, Selma's city manager.
Heusser said the city already has trimmed its budget in anticipation of declining revenues. But, he said, city officials may have to re-evaluate their finances in January.
Some cities have shown gains in sales tax revenues, thanks at least in part to higher fuel prices prompting shoppers to stick closer to home.
Tulare recorded a 7.9% gain in sales tax revenues in the second quarter.
Darlene Thompson, Tulare's finance director, said new stores such as Target, Home Depot and Lowes helped. In addition, she said, high gasoline prices probably limited how far people traveled to shop.
"People are staying in town instead of running to Visalia," Thompson said.
As most major Valley cities struggle with falling revenue, some small cities showed gains. Corcoran and Coalinga are among them.
A tomato plant just outside of Corcoran has brought new jobs, which has added dollars to the local economy, said City Manager Ron Hoggard.
Bill Skinner, Coalinga's interim city manager, said his city benefited from a company that does fleet vehicle sales to the state and a new company that sells oil and gas drilling equipment.
In the past two quarters, the city collected about $190,000 more in sales taxes -- a gain of about 26% -- over the same period last year. With the economy so sour, the city is banking the extra revenue instead of spending it, Skinner said.
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