Benton City is Bucking the Trend!

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Story Published: Apr 12, 2009 at 6:46 PM PDT

By Holly Zuluaga

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BENTON CITY- Most cities are losing out on cash from sales tax, as people tighten up their wallets, and businesses go under, but one city is bucking the trend.

It's a small town feel, but don't let it fool you.

People in Benton City say they're on the rise.

Action News pulled the numbers and found Benton City has actually increased their sales tax revenue, by over 9% in just one year.

That's in a time when most cities are losing money.

Pasco is losing 9%, Kennewick is down around 4%.

Richland is still down 1% and Yakima is losing over 6%.

"I think we're a stable market, number 1, and number 2, we've seen the growth of probably 10 small and medium size businesses in the last year," Randy Rutledge said.

When businesses move in, that's more revenue for the city.

One of those new restaurants is Bella Deli.

They've been open for almost a year, busy from day one.

It's a quaint Italian restaurant with a mom and pop shop feel.

"Our success is partly because we don't have customers, we have friends," Tracy Tudor said.

"I think we are a small town and I think we are growing, I think we're encouraging more and more of our own market base to shop in town," Randy Rutledge said.

Another factor is the wine industry, it's not technically in city limits, but the local businesses get a lot of that tourist traffic.

"They have just been wonderful about sending their tourists down to Benton City to grab something to eat," Randy Rutledge said.

Benton City has room to grow, they've added new businesses, with more on the way.

Want proof?

Just follow the money, it's here in Benton City.

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