Hospitality tax collections are higher, hotel rooms are full and casino tax revenues are up.

The River City is hopping, and a lot of it has to do with the outage at the Grand Gulf Nuclear Station that brought thousands of temporary residents to the area.

At its height, work at Grand Gulf spurred the hiring of 4,000 workers, each of whom needed a place to stay, various sundries and, of course, food and entertainment.

Their presence has not only bolstered revenue at hotels, restaurants and retail shops, but many are almost certainly testing their luck at the blackjack tables and slot machines at local casinos.

That translates into local tax dollars with area gambling establishments reporting revenue-based taxes already exceeding the last fiscal year.

The Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau also is benefiting from the county’s hospitality tax that levies a 1 percent sales tax on all hotel rooms and food and beverages sold.

Local governments and the VCVB should enjoy it while they can, however.

Those additional Grand Gulf workers have been dwindling in recent weeks and they — along with their wallets — will all be gone in about a month.

The last several months have been a boost for area coffers, and local officials would be wise to be frugal in how they decide to use those extra dollars.