Sales Tax Up In Downtown Yakima Leading Recovery

A lot of people are spending money in downtown Yakima pushing up the city sales tax revenue. City Manager Tony O'Rourke says so far this year sales tax growth has increased 22% vs. 5% for the entire city. He says if you look at the last 2 years sales tax revenues have risen 30% compared to 14% citywide. O'Rourke says sales downtown are driving the local economy. "Downtown is leading the charge for recovery and revitalization for the area." And O'Rourke says the future only looks bright. He says this year there are more events planned for the downtown area then ever before so more people will be downtown this summer spending money.