August sales tax collections are up across the Golden Triangle compared with collections received in August 2021, according to a report by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Columbus received $948,226 in sales tax diversions this month from the MDR, compared to the $943,546 the city received this time last year, showing nominal improvement.
August collections were down about $19,000 from July ($967,872). Despite the decrease from last month, Columbus has received $9,942,229 in the 2022 fiscal year compared to the previous ($9,690,993), showing a 2.5-percent improvement.
Sales tax diversions run on a three-month window, where they are collected one month, sent to the DOR the next, and then distributed to cities. Therefore, August collections generally reflect sales from June.
Mayor Keith Gaskin told The Dispatch that collections have already exceeded the current fiscal year’s sales tax projection of $9.6 million. He expects to finish with about $11 million by September’s end, which will be the end of the city’s fiscal year.
“You can contribute some of it to people getting out and spending more after being in so long from COVID,” Gaskin said. “They were going into the stores and were just happy to be out and about doing things.”
Starkville
Starkville received $691,466 in August, a 1.3 percent increase in collections from $682,560 in August 2021. However, sales tax collections were down 11 percent this month from $783,434 in July.
Despite the fall, general sales tax collections for the current fiscal year — which ends Sept. 30 — are up 8 percent ($8,011,291) from $7,379,747 at the same time last year.
“Even when we have an occasional dip in a month, the overall growth has been consistent,” Mayor Spruill said.
Collections in Fiscal Year 2022 have not yet met the $8.6 million the city budgeted. The Director of Finance Webb Corban told The Dispatch he projects the city will exceed the budget by the end of September with about $8.8 million overall. Sales tax collections in 2021 exceeded the expected collections of $7.26 million by 1.7 percent.
Spruill credits a conservative budgeting strategy, increased population and greater participation in the local economy as reasons for the growth.
“We’re creating a quality of life where people want to live and be here,” Spruill said. “They buy second homes, they come to visit for ball games and events and as a part of that, they spend money when they’re here.”
West Point
West Point collected $182,098 in August from June sales, showing a 5.86-percent increase from the August 2021 collection of $171,365.
West Point started its 2022-23 fiscal year in July, making its current year-to-date diversion $372,508, a 7.8-percent decrease from 404,274 in August 2021.
Mayor Rod Bobo declined to comment on the dip from July and last year’s August fiscal year-to-date. Bobo did say the 2021-22 total collections did exceed the expected budget of $2,460,000 in sales tax collection. According to the MDR, the 2021-22 fiscal year closed with $2,650,247. For the current fiscal year, the city budgeted the same sales tax amount as last year.
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