Sales tax revenues were up in all four major cities across Northwest Arkansas compared to the same month last year.
Fayetteville reported a 15.9 percent increase and was at the top of the list for total revenues, collecting nearly $370,000 more than Rogers, about $570,000 more than Springdale, and almost $697,000 more than Bentonville.
Paul Becker, the city’s finance director, said Tuesday he was a bit shocked to see how high revenues were across the region in February, which is usually a slow month for sales. He said it was the best February on record in Fayetteville since at least 1995.
Becker said the increase will help cover last month’s news that revenues had dipped in Fayetteville for the first time in 15 months.
The extra revenue means Fayetteville’s year-to-date collections are at a 6.6 percent increase over last year. When combined with the 1 percent the city receives from Washington County sales tax, Fayetteville is at a 4.87 percent total increase over budget for the year.
“Over the last 10 years, we’ve averaged about 3 percent (over budget), so in the last five or six years, we’ve been estimating approximately 2 percent over (the previous year’s) collections,” said Becker “So if we are at about 5 percent, then that’s good news and we will certainly take it.”
Here are the specifics:
Fayetteville received $1,691,483 for a 15.9 percent increase over last year, a difference of $232,128.
Rogers collected $1,321,689, a $150,612 increase over last year when the city received $1,171,077.
Springdale received $1,121,625 for a 22.6 percent increase over last year, a difference of $207,078.
Bentonville collected $994,860, a $151,032 increase from last year when the city received $843,828.
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.
February sales tax revenue is collected in March and delivered in April.
2016 Totals
2015 Totals
Source: City of Fayetteville
