Sales tax revenues were up in three of the four major cities across Northwest Arkansas this month.
Fayetteville, Springdale, and Rogers were each up about 7 percent over January 2015 receipts, while Bentonville reported a 14.6 percent decrease.
Fayetteville was at the top of the list for total revenues, collecting $321,000 more than Rogers, over $625,000 more than Springdale, and $951,000 more than Bentonville.
Here are the specifics:
Fayetteville received $1,672,933 for a 7.2 percent increase over last year, a difference of $112,421.
Rogers collected $1,351,292, a $91,516 increase over last year when the city received $1,259,776.
Springdale received $1,047,853 for a 7.9 percent increase over last year, a difference of $77,161.
Bentonville collected $721,889, a $123,684 decrease from last year when the city received $845,573.
Each city collects a 2 percent sales tax. One percent goes into a general fund. The other 1 percent goes toward repayment of bonds. The numbers reported by the Fayetteville Flyer represent the 1 percent going into general funds.
November sales tax revenue is collected in December and delivered in January.
Fiscal year-end report
The November receipts complete the fiscal year, and all four major cities finished with higher numbers than the previous year, including Bentonville which ended last fiscal year slightly in the negative.
Fayetteville collected a total of $19,794,654, which is a 7.6 increase over 2014.
“2015 was a very good year,” said Paul Becker, Fayetteville’s finance director. “I have been here roughly 10 years and that is the highest increase I’ve seen.”
Becker said he was pleasantly surprised to see such high revenues in November for the second year in a row.
“Frankly, I don’t know what to make of it,” Becker said. “I’m wondering if the holiday shopping patterns have changed, and maybe some people are making purchases earlier. We’ll know when we see the numbers next month.”
Becker said he’s cautiously optimistic.
“Sales taxes can be up and down,” he said. “Fortunately we’re up and I’m very, very happy about that.”
Source: City of Fayetteville
