Waitsfield saw an economic boost in 2016, according to tax receipts tracked by the Mad River Valley Planning District, while Warren’s numbers dropped.
Each year the Mad River Valley Planning District puts together a data report tracking numerous economic and demographic trends in The Valley. These include tax receipts, jobs by sector, skier visits at each mountain, school enrollment and the age of Valley residents.
The first section of the planning district’s report details meals, rooms and alcohol tax receipts for Warren and Waitsfield. Fayston tax receipts are tracked by Vermont’s Department of Taxes, but due to the small number of businesses the figures are not released.
Waitsfield saw an increase in each category. The largest gain was in rooms tax receipts, which went up 34 percent, from $2,468,040 in 2015 to $3,298,973. Alcohol receipts went up 12 percent, from $2,506,179 to $2,809,388, and meals receipts went up 10 percent, from $7,986,783 to $8,757,276.
Meanwhile all of Warren’s figures decreased. Warren’s meals receipts decreased 10 percent, from $6,515,564 to $5,850,243. Warren’s rooms receipts went down 5 percent, from $7,223,202 in 2015 to $6,886,678 in 2016, and the town’s alcohol receipts only decreased by 3 percent, from $2,427,632 to $2,354,369.
Warren also shows much more volatility from year to year in spending, which is “likely a reflection of corresponding ski seasons,” the report states. Waitsfield has shown a steady increase in tax receipts since 2012.
An inflation adjusted look at the Mad River Valley as a unit shows that meals receipts saw its first decrease since 2012, down 8 percent, while alcohol receipts for The Valley increased 3 percent and rooms receipts remain roughly the same.
