Sales tax collections for the month of May were up in Columbus and West Point and dipped slightly in Starkville compared to last May, but fiscal year revenues for all three cities are slightly lower than that in 2017, according to the June report.
In Columbus, the total sales tax was reported at $1,039,023 for May sales, up by $59,934 from May 2017. For the year, however, sales tax collections ($8,920,204) are down roughly $77,000 compared to the year-to-date total from last year.
The city’s 2-percent restaurant tax, which sunsets Saturday, produced $161,327 in revenue, a $10,170 increase over May 2017. The hotel tax produced $27,205 in May, up by $4,927 compared to May 2017.
In Starkville, May sales produced $576,637 in sales tax, a drop of about $12,000 from May 2017. For the year, the $6,398,027 collected so far this year is about $41,000 less than though May of 2017.
West Point’s May sales produced $176,293 in revenue for the city, an increase of $4,580 over May 2017. For the year, collections in 2018 of $1,900,421 were down by $82,686 compared to 2017.
Sales taxes collections are calculated on a three-month cycle. Taxes collected in the first month by retailer is reported/paid to the state’s Department of Revenue in the second month and the cities’ portions of that revenue is paid to the cities in the third month.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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