Roughrider Fund receipts approaching record levels
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
With Watford City city sales tax collections experiencing a meteoritic rise in the past two years thanks to increased oil activity and a growing retail economy, the city’s Roughrider Fund committee is now looking to funding new projects that will spark new business start-ups.
Since 2017, when the Roughrider Fund took in just under $3 million in city sales tax collections, the fund has been seeing a very healthy growth, according to Matt Beard, Roughrider Fund chairman. While that amount was far less than the record $5,713,823 that was collected in 2015, Beard says that collections are now approaching that record amount.
“The Roughrider Fund took in $5,363,654 in 2019,” states Beard. “That was over a 16 percent increase from the $4,600,852 that was collected in 2018. The last two years have been very good for the fund.”
Armed with a flush account, Beard says that Roughrider Fund committee is setting aside $200,000 in 2020 for small business development in Watford City, as well as offering $45,000 in community enrichment grants.
“We haven’t been able to offer these programs for many years,” states Beard. “But with the increased city sales tax collections, we have the funds to expand our programs.”
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