POULSBO — When the Poulsbo City Council approved a $500,000 increase in the city’s 2006 budget, it did so with confidence that the Olhava revenue stream would finally flow.

Six months into the new year, monthly sales tax reports have continued showing increases of no less than $33,000, which was in the January report.

The city receives 1 percent of the state sales taxes two months after they are collected, Financial Analyst Deb Booher reminded the council’s finance/administration committee when the June report was released last Wednesday.

For the year, the city has collected $387,368 more in sales taxes than it did by June of 2005, according to the report.

“The whole thing is significantly up from last year,” said Councilman Dale Rudolph.

The report also notes a dramatic change from previous years as the city has already collected more than half of its expected sales tax revenues by June, Rudolph said.

“By this time in 2004, we had collected 33 percent, and in 2005, we had collected 31 percent,” he said. “Right now, we’re about 53 percent.”

Normally, three of the first four months of the year are slow ones for sales tax revenues, he said.

“If you could project this out, we could end up as last year’s finance committee said when we budgeted an extra $500,000,” he said. “We’re ahead of where we’ve been historically.”

The reports also show that increases aren’t just from Wal-Mart and The Home Depot, either, he said.

“It’s not just up on the hill (at Olhava), it’s everywhere,” Rudolph said.

While acknowledging the increases shown by this year’s sales tax reports, Mayor Kathryn Quade offered a word of caution.

“We’re not ahead, we’re right on schedule,” Quade said.

Finance Director Nanci Lien echoed Quade’s caution and reminded the committee that the revenues are meeting expectations, and added that she didn’t see another $500,000 increase in the 2007 budget.

According to the report, May sales tax revenues were $270,206 compared to $187,964 in 2005 and the four-year average of $204,299, which is a 32 percent increase over the city’s average.

The June sales tax report of $251,516 represents a 37 percent increase over the four-year average.

The reports also shows that motor vehicle sales no longer account for 50 percent of the city’s total sales tax revenues.

In May and June of 2005, motor vehicle sales brought in a combined $103,804 or 53 percent of the total revenues compared to $112,524 or 35 percent for the same period this year.

However, general merchandise and building materials showed significant gains from 2005 to this year as the two combined to account for almost 38 percent of the total revenues. In 2005, the two categories represented a combined 4 percent of the total revenues.

The actual numbers are a total of $115,148 for May and June this year to $8,840 in the same two months in 2005, which represents a 1,200 percent increase in revenue.