Out-of-town revenue boosts Pittsburg city spending
By Tyler Antle
PITTSBURG, Kan. — Pittsburg officials say sales tax collected from non-resident money spent in the city funds local projects, allowing the city to do more without raising taxes on its residents.
Pittsburg City Manager Daron Hall said that at the end of 2025, roughly 40% of the city’s sales tax came from non-resident spending.
Hall said this spending allowed sales tax income to end higher than the previous year by 5.6%. Hall said that even after counting for inflation, which is roughly 3%, the city has been able to still see growth.
That non-resident spending has relieved potential financial stress from residents of the city, reducing their need to put as much money into funding these projects themselves.
Hall also said that this revenue allows the city to keep property tax from rising. Locals are finding it easier to purchase homes due to the aid of visitor spending.
The city intends to use non-resident revenue to help provide the residents of Pittsburg a higher quality of life, including using it to help with road maintenance and a $65 million dollar wastewater treatment plant.
Besides city projects, Chamber of Commerce President Blake Benson said that while spending for essential services generally falls all on the shoulders of the local taxpayers, the out-of-town spenders are helping aid in the costs.
“When you have people from outside the community that can help you pay for those services, that helps those people that live here because it takes some of the pressure off the increases in sales tax,” Benson said.
Benson agreed that relying more on sales tax allows the city to not lean as heavily on property tax. This allows residents to keep more money in their pockets and not have to spend as much for city management.
This revenue growth has come from well-known businesses the city has attracted since around 2022, including IHOP, Marshall’s and Ulta Beauty. These businesses are located around areas where the city sees the most traffic, such as the U.S. Highway 69 bypass or around the campus of Pittsburg State University.
The city has also taken advantage of what they call the “shoulder season,” the time of year where there is not much travel or tourism, usually between the months of January through March. Benson said the addition of Pittsburg State’s Plaster Center allowed the community to host indoor events which, in return, helped the local hotels, restaurants and stores in their slowest times.
Benson said this creates a “magnet effect,” making Pittsburg more attractive for outsiders. Besides casual spenders, Pittsburg has begun to be a popular place for large events to be held, including both the MIAA indoor and outdoor championship meets this year.
Another factor bringing traffic into the city is medical services. Pittsburg is home to several clinics, Mercy Hospital and the Southeast Kansas Community Health Center. Due to the increase in traffic, the CHC has grown, including expansions to their complex on North Michigan Street.
Non-residents often travel to Pittsburg for appointments or to visit patients and then stop to eat or shop while they were in town, making them some of the city’s most powerful economic providers.
“As people come to Pittsburg to see their doctor, come to our hospital to have a procedure done, they almost always hit one of our restaurants, hit one of our gas stations,” Benson said. “They spend money while they’re here.”
Hall said new job opportunities are another big source of non-resident spending. He said the city has attracted several well-paying job opportunities, including an opening of a new Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) facility and a 20,000-square-foot EaglePicher technology facility that will be located on the north end of town.
Hall said there has been growth in the industrial parks as well. Many businesses have brought in expansions to their businesses
“We’ve had a tremendous amount of growth in the industrial park from AZZ and our other industries,” Hall said. “Apex stages, they’re all building expansions.”
These expansions are also creating a more competitive job market, with companies starting to increase wages in order to keep staff. Benson notes that over the last eight years, median wages in Pittsburg have increased 30 to 35%, outrunning the inflation percent of 15 to 17%.
Hall said there has also been effort to improve the city’s downtown region, including the Gorilla Rising project designed to bring Pitt State’s campus to downtown and businesses into Block-22. He said such projects strengthen Pittsburg’s economy and make it a more attractive town to live in.
All of this culminates into a never-ending building up the city. The more earnings the city has to utilize, the more it can build and the more inviting the town will be.
Jayce Quirin, a longtime resident of Parsons, Kansas, said he is in Pittsburg at least twice a week. He said that over the last few years, there’s been enough in Pittsburg to warrant the 40-minute drive from Parsons because of its higher availability for things to do.
“It seems like Pittsburg is becoming the hub for not only Crawford but all of the surrounding counties as well,” Quirin said. “I’ve gone for sports, concerts, the casino or even just to hang out.”
These changes to Pittsburg have helped Crawford County climb out of their impoverished history that residents have suffered from for decades.
Ten years ago, Crawford County was ranked 105 out of the 105 counties in the state of Kansas for income. After creating more non-resident attractions and using less income tax for city projects, they have improved to 72.
“We’re getting to where we have a visitor event almost every weekend in Pittsburg,” said Benson, “and that’s great because it attracts so many non-residents that come here for that entertainment and spend money while they’re here.”
