Sales tax collections continue to show growth year-over-year throughout the Golden Triangle.
Columbus received $1,015,391 in sales tax diversions from Mississippi Department of Revenue in November, up $149,770 from last year’s period.
November collections were also up $79,606 from October ($935,785). Total diversions this fiscal year amount to $1,951,176, which started October 1, a 13.9 percent improvement over last year.
Sales tax diversions run on a three-month window, where they are collected by retailers one month, sent to MDR the next, and then dispersed to cities and counties the third. Therefore, November diversions generally reflect sales from September.
“There still appears to be pent-up demand from the pandemic,” Columbus Chief Financial Officer James Brigham said. “Then there’s been retail growth too. Some of the new retailers that are coming in as we really open some of those old shopping centers, that all contributes to the process.”
The city’s 2-percent restaurant special tax also showed growth, bringing in $186,834 in November, compared to $170,367 in November 2021.
The 2-percent hotel/motel tax posted $44,771 this month in collections, compared to $34,158 in November 2021.
Starkville
Starkville has also seen continued growth as it ends the second month of its fiscal year. The city received $780,897 from state diversions this month, compared to $754,967 at the same time last year, a 3.3-percent growth. Diversions were up 3.2 percent from October ($756,127).
The city’s fiscal year-to-date diversions currently total $1,537,025, compared to $1,476,030 in the same period last year, a 4-percent increase. The city budgeted $9.3 million in sales tax revenue for its current fiscal year.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said she is satisfied with the current growth in diversions and attributed some of that success to the football season and the city’s continued economic growth.
“As our retail grows, it brings in people from an extended range,” Spruill said. “People from Louisville, people from Winona, people from lots of surrounding areas. And with them comes the opportunity to have lunch while they’re shopping. Or just come to eat because we have some unique and excellent restaurants in town.”
According to figures released with its sales tax numbers, the city has continued to see growth in its 3-percent restaurant tax diversions and 1-percent hotel tax.
The city received $392,225 in restaurant tax collections, a 5.7 percent improvement from November 2021 ($370,636).
The city’s hotel/motel tax collection sits at $22,486, an 11.8 percent increase from the $19,973 it collected in November 2021.
West Point
West Point received $239,938 in November from September sales, a 9.2-percent increase from the $218,840 it collected in November 2021.
As the city nears the halfway point of its current fiscal year, which started July 1, it has collected $1,184,468, a 5.8-percent improvement from the same time last year (1,117,479).
Despite year-over-year growth, West Point’s November diversions were down $3,191 compared to October ($243,129).
West Point’s city finance department was unable to make its local numbers available by press time, so sales tax data was collected strictly from MDR.
Mayor Rod Bobo said he was satisfied to see the city continuing to grow year over year, crediting the success to the city’s economic growth in restaurants and retail.
“I will say that there are some great things happening in West Point,” Bobo said. “Retail is coming back to West Point. The 45 corridor is vibrant, and our downtown area is very vibrant and very lively. So I think that it’s a combination of things that are attributing to the sales tax increase that we’re experiencing.”
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