St. George City officials say they're "cautiously optimistic" because the local economy hasn't looked this good since the days before the Great Recession. Since the start of the fiscal year in July, overall city revenue is up nearly 4 percent over the same period last year. Rising sales tax revenues and a jump in residential and commercial building permits fueled much of that increase, showing that more people are shopping and more developers are building.
While sales tax revenues are up 4.5 percent over 2010, residential and commercial building permits showed even larger increases. The city has issued 152 commercial building permits since July, an 81 percent jump over the same period last year. The 202 residential permits issued this year showed a 47 percent increase from the same period last year. The Spectrum