Montgomery County Trustee Brenda Radford said she is "really pleased" with the number and thinks it means Clarksville-Montgomery County is nearing an end to its economic recession.

"Because the (nationwide) recession has not hit as hard here — we have not seen the sharp impact as some other places — the sales tax increase and other factors, I believe, means we will come out of the recession faster," she said.

Local unemployment seems to be the one area that hasn't yet rebounded, she said.

"Many businesses have had to lay off many of their workers because of the economic situation," Radford said. "The staff is the last to be rehired because businesses have been just trying to make ends meet."

Local sales tax collections are reported by the state two months after the actual reporting month, so the numbers reported this month are for June.

The state keeps 7 cents of the 9.5 cent sales tax, and 2.5 percent of the total collection is returned to the local governments.

The local sales tax is divided among the city of Clarksville and Montgomery County for school operations and to pay the debt incurred from building schools.

Radford believes a small factor in the record June sales tax collection is Hemlock Semiconductors LLC.

"People from HSC are beginning to move here and people are visiting Montgomery County as the site is being prepared," she said.

"I'm sure it's contributing somewhat, but I have no way of knowing how much."

Additionally, the contractor doing site preparation for the $1.2 billion project is using local businesses to supply fuel and materials, she said.

James Chavez, director of the local Economic Development Council, agrees HSC may be a part of the June tax report.

"You have a lot of people on site now during the week and they are spending locally," he said. "I'm not sure how much of an impact it has now; the large part of the work won't be until October."

Chavez offered a couple of other possibilities for the tax surge.

"It seems that people are starting to spend more, and with our growth, it may be showing up in sales taxes," he said.

"The uptick in population and the uptick in spending might be factors."

While some folks may be spending more, Chavez thinks economic factors are still influencing families' spending decisions.

June is a month when many families take vacations after school closes for the summer.

"It could be some people shortened their vacation or just stayed put this summer," he said.