By Chris OrletRecord Managing EditorSales tax collections in Warrenton through the first half of the 2013-14 fiscal year are down slightly.According to Gabrielle Currie, city finance manager, the city of Warrenton collected a total of $1,254,355 from July through Dec. 31, which is a decrease of $25,229 over the same period during the previous fiscal year.The city levies a total of three sales taxes totalling 1.75 percent on purchases within the city limits.They include a 1-cent sales tax for general revenue, a quarter-cent sales tax for transportation, and a half-cent sales tax for capital improvements (recreation).Here is a breakdown of sales tax collections for the current fiscal year through Dec. 31, and a comparison to the same period the previous year.General revenue — 2013-2014 - $728,723; 2012-2013- $742,053 for a decrease of $13,330.Transportation — 2013-2014 - $350,421; 2012-2013 - $358,354 for a decrease of $7,933.Capital improvements — 2013-2014 - $175,211; 2012-2013 - $179,177 for a decrease of $3,966.Warrenton officials don’t see the slight decrease as overly concerning.“I’ve been pleasantly surprised that the sales tax continues to be up,” said Terri Thorn, city finance officer. “I keep thinking every month that it’s going to catch up and we’re going to get back to where I really thought we would end up. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the (positive trend in sales) holds out until the end of the fiscal year.”Thorn said that officials anticipated a greater loss of revenue compared to last year because the outlet mall has continued to lose stores.“In our budget, we anticipated a greater loss of revenue compared to last year because of this,” Thorn said. “It appears that other stores have increased sales somewhat since the reduction is not as significant as we anticipated.”Mayor Jerry Dyer said this fiscal year is shaping up to look a lot like last year as far as tax collections go.“We fared better than we anticipated last fiscal year and we’re doing the same this year,” he said.Thorn said local businesses continue to see positive sales trends.“What that says to me is even with the outlet mall and the dire conditions it’s in, business has been picking up and businesses are doing better to offset that loss of revenue,” she said. “So it makes me feel positive that the other business are exceeding what they’ve done over the last couple of years. We haven’t had enough new businesses — especially this last year — that it would create this difference in the budget. It’s positive.”Thorn said her best guess is that sales will continue at the current level.“My guess is that it will, as we see January figures with Christmas sales,” she said. “Typically if we were going to see a dip we would have already seen it coming. But you never know about spring time.”City sales tax revenue down slightly