Columbus sales tax collections continue to rise over last year’s record-breaking results.
In August, the city received $825,608 for June’s sales, which is $32,882 more than August 2015. City Chief Financial Officer Milton Rawle said sales tax collections are more than $800,000 higher than at the same point last year.
The growth comes after fiscal year 2014-15’s record collections, where the city drew in more than $9.3 million. During a recent budget meeting, Rawle said the city is on pace to break $10 million in collections for the first time.
It’s hard to know what exactly is driving the continued sales tax growth — the state, Rawle said, cannot break down which businesses generated how much revenue. He’s previously told Columbus City Council the steady influx of new businesses to the city has likely been the engine driving increased revenues.
Columbus Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Executive Director Nancy Carpenter said she believes the growth is due in part to increased tourism in the city. She said that’s evident through the CVB’s social media activity, which has seen a 96-percent increase in Facebook likes, a 21-percent increase in Twitter follows and a 28-percent increase in website visits.
“One of the reasons I feel we continue to grow is people are learning Columbus is a destination all year,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said the CVB has assembled more than 15,000 guests bags, which include information about the city, so far this year. She said one guest bag is distributed per family unit, so 45,000 to 50,000 people may have come to visit the city so far. She said that figure only includes events for which the CVB receives requests for guest bags, such as family or class reunions and CVB-hosted events.
“With sporting events, we know people come, but we don’t necessarily know they’re here. So that might not be included,” she said.
Columbus’ outlook for continued growth is strong, Carpenter said, with another hotel under construction — a Holiday Inn Express off of 18th Avenue North — and new restaurants coming to town.
Carpenter also said the city will host several events in the fall, such as a Mississippi-Alabama-Tennessee rural tourism conference, a reunion for former Columbus Air Force Base pilots and a Chi-Omega convention in October.
Columbus will also host visiting teams and fans for Mississippi State University’s six home football games, Carpenter said, which is positive for sales tax collections.
“Even with high school football, you’re talking about several hundred people that may follow their schools,” she said. “So it’s very likely you could have 300 to 500 extra people in town on a Friday night, and that’s very good.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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