An audit recently finalized for the city of Warrenton shows that sales taxes provide about half of the revenue that pays for a variety of public services.Of the nearly $5 million income collected for the city’s general revenue fund in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, $2.3 million came from sales taxes collected within the city. General revenue is the fund that pays for city police, administration, street projects, parks and other services.Ward 2 Alderman Gary Auch said information from the audit can help residents understand where funding for city services comes from.“I think people need to recognize how important sales tax is to the city as a percentage of all our revenue. It’s the single biggest thing,” Auch said.The advantage of creating revenue that way is that not all the tax money has to come from city residents, Auch explained. Many people travel to Warrenton to shop, especially those who live to the west along Interstate 70, he said. After all, there isn’t much in the way of retail between Warrenton and Columbia, 70 miles away.That was one reason behind the city government’s push to build a new interchange just west of the former outlet mall in Warrenton. The city and a private developer are partnering to bring new life to the mall, by providing direct access from the new interchange.Revitalizing the mall could help bring in more consumers from outside Warrenton to shop there, generate more sales tax revenue and help spur new growth, Auch said. The ongoing interchange construction is itself being paid for by a sales tax approved by voters in August 2016.Between July 2016 and June 2017, about 47 percent of Warrenton’s general revenue came from sales taxes, according to the audit completed by Botz, Deal and Company.Comparatively little revenue came from property taxes — just over 6 percent. About 17 percent came from utility taxes and other taxes.Auch said residents comment to him about how much they have to pay in real estate taxes, but he said most of that doesn’t go to the city itself. Rather, much of it goes to other public services, especially the Warren County School District.That’s another advantage of having healthy sales taxes, said Ward 1 Alderman Greg Costello. It allows the city to keep its own property tax rate low and leave property taxes as a resource for schools and emergency responder agencies.“The city of Warrenton is, and has been, primarily funded by sales tax. That’s been true since before 1986, which was my first time in office,” Costello said.He said easy access to I-70 is what allows the city to draw so much in sales taxes and rely on that revenue for the city’s financial health.Warrenton general revenue 2016-2017