9. EDSR 08-11-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Number of businesses The number of sales and use tax permit holders who filed one or more tax returns for the year are reported as the number of businesses. Reporting Period The reporting periods in this report are calendar years. For example, the sales reported for the year 2000 are for the period, January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000. Per Capita Sales Per capita (or "per person") sales are calculated by dividing current dollar sales by the population estimate. In areas where population is subject to substantial change, this is a more satisfactory measure of sales activity than sales alone. However, it still does not reflect changes in the state economy. Pull Factor The pull factor was developed by Dr. Ken Stone, an economist from Iowa State University Extension Service to provide a precise measure of sales activity in a locality. It is derived by dividing the per capita current dollar sales of a city or county by the per capita sales for the state. For example, if a city's per capita sales are $20,000 per year and the state per capita sales are $10,000 per year, the pull factor is 2.0 ($20,OOo- $10,000). The interpretation is that the city is selling to 200 percent of the city population. Pull factors are good measures of sales activity because they reflect changes in population, inflation, and the state economy. Pull factors are available through the Extension Service for total taxable sales for all cities with reported sales (generally, cities with a population of 5,000 or more) since 1990. The pull factors listed in this report are not adjusted for differing income levels in different communities; they are simply the ratio of local per person sales to the state average. Income levels are accounted for in the expected sales and potential sales formulas, described below. Typical Pull Factor The typical pull factor is a pull factor that represents the "norm" for cities within a population group. It is an average for cities within a population group taking into account any outliers in the group. Personal Income Personal income is defined as the income received by, or on behalf of, all the residents of the county (state) from all sources. Personal income is the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries (e.g.. contributions to retirement funds, health plans, life insurance policies), proprietors' income, rental income, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts to persons (e.g. receipts of Social Security, disability, worker's compensation, Medicare/Medicaid, food stamps,etc.) less contributions for government social insurance (e.g. Social Security, Medicare). (For more details, see http://www.bea.gov/regional/pdf/spi2005/alternative measures.pdf). Index of Income This index provides a relative measure of income, calculated by dividing local per capita income by state per capita income. The base is 1.00. For example, an index of income of 1.20 indicates that per capita income in the area is 20 percent above the state average. Page 2