City revenue tops $2M

Driven by the still-bustling West End, Waynesboro’s sales-tax revenues paced the central Shenandoah Valley in the first six months of the year.

And the prognosis for steadily higher numbers is bright, buoyed by proposed developments in the region’s emerging retail hub, city officials and business leaders say.

“Anytime you see that kind of increase in the retail sector, it’s got to be a positive,” said Don Coffey, Waynesboro’s commissioner of the revenue. “When you hear people aren’t spending money elsewhere, at least people are spending in Waynesboro, and that’s a good thing.”

Even amid the recession’s deepening gloom, Waynesboro’s sales tax revenues topped $2.36 million in the first half of the year, a 4-percent increase over the same period a year ago.

Augusta County’s revenues dropped by a fourth from the first six months of last year to $1.9 million. Staunton’s remained level at $1.74 million, while Nelson County’s slipped 7 percent to $436,000.

“I think that the economic downturn has forced people to look at things a little differently,” said Amanda Huffman, Staunton’s assistant director of economic development. “And we’re hopeful that through that process people have realized the importance of spending their money locally.”

The trends in Waynesboro provide cause for hope that consumer confidence is on the rise after sagging as economic clouds gathered last year, said Ben Carter, president and CEO of the Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“From a regional perspective, we’re seeing a positive uptick in business,” Carter said. “I think things are starting to turn around.”

Proposed movie theaters in Waynesboro and Augusta County are an indicator that developers are sensing the swing, too, Carter said. Especially encouraging, he said, is that those developments would keep in the region retail dollars that previously would have spent elsewhere, in places like Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.

“If there can be a new theater like that, whether it be in Waynesboro, Staunton or Augusta County, that would keep that money in our community,” Carter said.

Two movie theaters have been proposed for Waynesboro within a half-mile of each other in the West End – in the proposed Waynesboro Place development off Windigrove Drive and in the Dewitt Crossing development along Lew Dewitt Boulevard. Another theater has been proposed for the 1-million-square-foot Augusta Marketplace development off Interstate 81 and the Woodrow Wilson Parkway.

Staunton, meanwhile, is looking to redevelop property around the current Western State Hospital off I-81. 

“What’s going on in Waynesboro is very good for Waynesboro, what’s going on in Augusta County is good for Augusta County, and what’s going on in Staunton is very good for Staunton,” Carter said. “Each one of those is going to be good for everybody.”