Sales tax collections in Columbus and West Point saw marginal improvements in February, while Starkville lagged slightly.
Columbus received $1,076,614 in sales tax diversions from the Mississippi Department of Revenue in February, up $51,926 from February 2022.
The city has collected $4,848,647 this fiscal year — which began Oct. 1 — compared to $4,479,786 this time last year, marking a 7.9 percent improvement from last year.
Sales tax diversions run on a three-month window, in which they are collected by retailers one month, sent to MDOR the next and then dispersed to cities and counties the third. Therefore, February diversions generally reflect sales from December.
Chief Financial Officer James Brigham told The Dispatch he still expects to see about $11 million collected by the end of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
“It wasn’t that big of a rise,” he said of February’s numbers. “I think it just continues to be that we’re seeing more retail stores open. And the numbers are steady and solid and still going up, and that’s the key.”
The city’s 2-percent restaurant special tax, which helps to fund the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau, recreation for the county and city and economic development purposes for the Golden Triangle Development LINK also showed growth this month, bringing in $202,788 compared to $180,688 in February 2022. The city has received $944,858 so far this fiscal year, compared to $870,613 last year.
The 2-percent hotel/motel tax, which funds the parks and recreation department, brought in $25,116, compared to $22,358 in February 2022. Year to date, the city has collected $154,539, compared to $151,781 this time last year.
Starkville
Starkville received $776,403 in February, compared to $779,475 in February 2022.
However, the city’s fiscal YTD collections sit at $3,926,782, a 6.5-percent improvement over last year. The city is nearing the halfway point in its fiscal year and has made almost half of the $9.3 million budgeted for the current fiscal year.
Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch the nominal drop is no reason for concern and attributes success in increases within the city’s 3-percent restaurant and 1-percent hotel tax to a healthy economy and business growth in the area.
“The sales tax tends to fluctuate from one month to the next,” she said. “I focus more on the overall trend than on a single month. I don’t pretend to know why one month differs over another but as long as the long-term is on the rise, then we are in a good position going forward. The increase in the food and beverage tax is much the same but as long as the trend continues to increase, then I believe we can appreciate that our economy and our local businesses are overall doing well.”
According to figures released with its sales tax numbers, the city has continued to see growth in its 3-percent restaurant sales tax diversions and in its 1-percent hotel tax as compared to last year.
The city received $331,051 in restaurant sales tax collections, which assist in funding for economic development and tourism as well as sports facilities, a 15.4-percent increase from February 2022 ($283,651). The city received $1,846,951 this fiscal year, compared to $1,695,323 this time last year.
The city’s 1-percent hotel tax, which helps fund sports facilities, brought in $13,422 this month, compared to $10,385 in February 2022.
The hotel tax has garnered $100,469 this fiscal year, compared to $89,694 by this time last year.
West Point
The city of West Point received $244,906 in sales tax diversions from MDR this month, compared to $236,278 in February 2022.
The city has collected $1,912,750 so far this fiscal year, marking a 6.9-percent improvement from this time last year ($1,784,769).
It also marks the fourth straight month the city has exceeded its 2021 fiscal year collections, following a slow start to the fiscal year.
Mayor Rod Bobo did not respond to calls and messages made by The Dispatch by press time.
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