The Dell Rapids City Council heard the final 2019 totals for building permits and an updated sales tax numbers during their regular meeting on Monday, January 6th.
The city reported lower building permit valuations in 2019 as compared to 2018. Dell Rapids had 12 new homes built and one new four-plex in 2019. This number is down slightly when the city saw 17 new homes built in 2018. Dell Rapids also did not have any large scale commercial projects in 2019. Despite the lower number of homes, building permit valuations were just over $4 million.
The council also heard that sales tax numbers continued to remain strong for 2019. Numbers are in through November, and the city has seen an increase of 5.1% over the same period in 2018. With the closing of both Shopko and Family Dollar in 2019, expectations were that sales tax revenue would be down slightly from 2018. Not only have numbers exceeded 2018, but signs point to 2019 surpassing the 2017 record numbers after the December numbers are finalized.