You can partly thank the pandemic for area counties enjoying some of the highest sales tax revenues they have ever seen. Door and Kewaunee counties experienced record sales tax revenues in 2020. Door County collected over $4.4 million in sales taxes while Kewaunee County was around $1.3 million. Sales and use tax revenues went up 2.5 percent in 2020. Door County Administrator Ken Pabich believes people staying at home or traveling close to home for the reason why those numbers went up over the last year. He says they originally expected to see a 10 to 12 percent loss in sales tax revenue.

Pabich says the surplus money collected will be applied to the 2022 budget. The Kewaunee County Finance Committee unanimously recommended on Friday that the county board extends its 0.5 percent sales tax. It could have sunset or repealed at the end of the year.