Now, time for a little good news

Sure could use a little good news today. Remember the words? They're from an old song, popularized by Anne Murray 21 years ago. We bring them up now because they still apply ... worldwide, nationally and locally.

At every turn, it seems, we hear something discouraging. The long list of concerns include the dry weather, the decline in employment opportunities, rising medical costs and higher prices -- especially for gasoline and steel. None of the complaints should be discounted. They are all legitimate issues that need to be addressed.

But we also need to recognize the good things have been happening, too. For residents of Southwest Nebraska, proof comes in the form of the sales tax figures for December of 2003, the most recent month for which a full report is available.

What the report shows is that in the eight counties of Southwest Nebraska, net taxable sales increased by more than $1.3 million from December of 2002 to December of 2003. That's right ... more than $1.3 million.

To be exact, the total taxable sales went from $15,463,906 in December of 2002 to $16,796,771 in December of 2003. That's an increase of more than 8.6 percent. Making the upsurge even more special is the fact that sales went up in all eight of Nebraska's southwestern most counties, including Dundy, Chase, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow, Frontier, Furnas and Gosper.

From December of 2002 to December of 2003, Hayes County's taxable sales rose from $79,704 to $83,070, while Gosper County's sales increased from $335,606 to $381,175. Meanwhile, in Dundy County, taxable sales went from $511,981 in December of 2002 to $536,919 in December of 2003. Next up the line in taxable sales was Frontier County, which rose from $692,902 in the last month of '02, to $707,937 in the final month of '03.

The December taxable sales for Hitchcock County rose dramatically, going from $645,232 in 2002 to $747,976 in 2003.

The other three counties in Southwest Nebraska had sales in the millions. Chase County rose from $2,163,346 in December 2002 to $2,395,401 in December 2003, while Furnas County jumped from $2,120,439 in December '02 to $2,448,511 in December '03.

That leaves Red Willow County, which climbed from $8,914,696 in the final month of '02, to a grand total of $9,495,782 in the concluding month of '03.

Part of the reason for the taxable sales increase was the fact that more items have been added to the list of materials and services subject to sales tax. Among the most significant of these items is home remodeling, which in some cases can generate tax amounts in the high hundreds to thousands of dollars.

But the sales in this area were over and above that generated by the newly taxed items. Yes, we do have problems. But economic activity continues at a brisk pace in Southwest Nebraska, with sales continuing a steady climb following the slowdown which followed the terrorist attacks of September 11.