www.hdlcompanies.com | 888.861.0220
Q1 2024*
Q1 2025*
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$0
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
$100,000
$120,000
SALES TAX BY MAJOR BUSINESS GROUP *Allocation aberrations have been adjusted to reflect sales activity County
and State
Pools
Fuel and
Service
Stations
Restaurants
and
Hotels
Business
and
Industry
Building
and
Construction
Autos
and
Transportation
Food
and
Drugs
General
Consumer
Goods
CITY OF FORTUNA HIGHLIGHTS TOP 25 PRODUCERS
Published by HdL Companies in Summer 2025
Ace Hardware & Garden
Cigarette Payless
Dollar General
Eel River Brewing
Forbusco Lumber
Fortuna Chevron
Fortuna Liquors
Friesen Design Build
Grocery Outlet
Hummel Tire & Wheel
Les Schwab Tire Center
McDonald’s
Mercer Fraser
O’Reilly Auto Parts
Peterson Tractor
Ray’s Quality Cars
Safeway
Sequoia Gas
Shell
Sunbelt Rentals
Tractor Supply
Valley Pacific Petroleum
Services
Village Sport & Cycle
Walgreens
Wyckoff Plumbing
SALES TAX UPDATE
CITY OF FORTUNA
1Q 2025 (JANUARY - MARCH)
Fortuna’s receipts from January through
March were 1.5% below the first sales
period in 2024. Excluding reporting
aberrations, actual sales were up 0.7%.
State-county pools the City’s largest
income classification enjoyed strong
results with an 8.2% return as several
businesses in the pools performed well.
Service stations had modest returns at
the pumps this quarter while gas prices
remained stable.
Building-construction profits were
encouraging, as contractors saw demand
for their services from commercial
investors.
The autos-transportation category had
negative revenues from automotive
supply stores as car owners choose
to delay servicing their vehicles.
Furthermore, the food-drug category
saw meager proceeds at convenience
stores as shoppers looked to discount
stores for better bargains. Likewise, the
restaurants-hotels group experienced
soft gross receipts at quick service
establishments primarily due to higher
menu prices businesses implemented.
Measure E, the voter approved
transaction tax had positive collections
with returns of 4.6%.
Net of aberrations, taxable sales for all
of Humboldt County declined 1.1% over
the comparable time period; the Far
North region was flat.
TOTAL:
4.6%
$437,364
Measure E
TOTAL: $ 476,938
0.7% -1.1% 0.3%
COUNTY STATE
FORTUNA
1Q2025
TOP NON-CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS TYPES
Q1 '25
Fortuna
Business Type Change Change Change
County HdL State
Service Stations 53,305 7.3% -1.0% -5.8%
Casual Dining 38,496 0.4% -3.8% 1.3%
Automotive Supply Stores 26,753 -2.0% 5.9% -0.4%
Quick-Service Restaurants 21,995 -3.2% 5.3% -0.9%
Contractors 18,723 9.1% 13.2% 1.2%
Auto Repair Shops 13,096 0.7% 3.6% -4.9%
Electronics/Appliance Stores 11,244 4.7% -0.1% -0.6%
Convenience Stores/Liquor 9,011 -6.9% -5.8% -2.2%
Second-Hand Stores 1,498 -29.0% -7.5% -3.8%
Government/Social Org. 308 -15.0% -34.7% 31.0%
*Allocation aberrations have been adjusted to reflect sales activity
REVENUE BY BUSINESS GROUP
Fortuna This Quarter*
23%
Pools
13%
Restaurants
10%
Autos/Trans.
11%
Building
12%
Bus./Ind.
8%
Cons.Goods
10%
Food/Drug
13%
Fuel
*ADJUSTED FOR
ECONOMIC DATA
1Q 2025 CITY OF FORTUNA SALES TAX UPDATE
STATEWIDE RESULTS
California’s local one-cent sales and use
tax receipts for January through March
2025 increased by 0.34% compared to the
same quarter in 2024, after adjusting for
accounting anomalies. While this modest
growth may signal the end of an eightquarter decline, it could be temporary, as the broader economy remains on the edge
between recovery and further slowdown.
The first quarter is traditionally the lowest
sales tax-generating period of the year,
often influenced by seasonal weather and
post-holiday consumer behavior.
Notably, the autos-transportation and
building-construction sectors—both of
which had been dragging down statewide
results over the past two years—showed
the strongest rebounds this quarter. In the
autos sector, used car sales and leasing
activity led the recovery. Consumers are
increasingly opting for more affordable
vehicles and shorter-term commitments,
moving away from high-end purchases. In
construction, pent-up demand for repairs
and improvements, especially in weatheraffected and wildfire-damaged areas like Southern California, drove strong sales for
building material suppliers.
Other segments generating modest growth
included business-industry and countywide
use tax pools, largely due to continued
strength in online sales. Sales of goods
already in California before purchase
are reported under business-industry
fulfillment centers. Goods shipped from
outside the state are reported under county
pools, based on the destination of the outof-state shipment. Online shopping remains a preferred option for value-conscious
consumers, contributing significantly to tax
receipts in these categories.
Calendar year 2024 saw a decline in fuelrelated tax receipts due to lower global crude oil prices—a trend that continued into 1Q
2025. Fuel-related returns dropped by 5%.
This decline also affected general consumer
goods, as large retailers that sell fuel typically
report all sales under a single taxpayer ID.
As a result, brick-and-mortar merchants
such as post-holiday family apparel stores,
winter sporting goods vendors and closures
of variety stores contributed to weaker
performance.
Although food-drugs is the smallest of the
eight tax groupings, it was significant that
cannabis returns continued a downturn
trend that has been ongoing for over two
years. Bankruptcies, customer shopping
alternatives and oversaturation of retail
footprint diminished taxes coming from drug
stores.
As 2025 begins, sales tax returns remain
modest, reflecting broader economic
volatility. Key factors influencing our outlook
include: ongoing national tariff and trade
negotiations and decisions on the federal
funds rate - which directly affect consumer
interest rates. Recent Middle East conflicts,
which temporarily spiked crude oil prices
and threatened local gas prices during the
summer, will be a short-term concern. In
summary, “uncertainty” remains the most
accurate descriptor of California’s current
and future economic climate.