Sales tax revenue increases in July

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS -- Sales tax receipts were up in Benton and Washington counties in July.

Mike Crandall, Benton County accounting manager, said the county received $694,418 in July. That money represents taxes collected in May, Crandall said.

"The sales tax report is good," he said. "We're up by 14.22 percent over July from last year. Overall, we're $78,440 ahead compared to the first seven months of last year. We're back in the black after being in the red last month. For the year-to-date, we're ahead by just over 1 percent."

Washington County also had a good monthly report for July. The county received $543,193, said Roger Haney, treasurer.

"Our sales tax is up by about 5 percent," he said. "The money collected in May was about $30,000 more than we got this time last year."

Washington County's budget calls for a two percent increase in sales tax revenue, and the county is on track to reach that goal, he said.

"Our target is $6,182,000 and we're at $3,549,000," he said. "We're a little above, and that's good."

Washington County's sales tax revenue was down in some months early this year. Bad winter weather played a part in that, Haney said.

Benton County's budget projected $7.3 million in sales tax. That's roughly the amount collected in 2013, Crandall said. The county is $78,744 ahead of last year, he said.

Tom Allen, District 4 justice of the peace and Benton County's Finance Committee chairman, said he was pleased with the latest report, but the year's collection overall is disappointing.

"That's great news, that we have a 14 percent increase for the month," Allen said. "I'm not going to question why we're up this month and we've been down some other months as long as we're moving forward. At the beginning of the year, I was hoping we'd have an increase of about 5 percent. We're not going to get there, but we budgeted flat so if we come in on budget we'll be OK. But given the other challenges we're facing, we're still going to have some tough decisions."

Barry Moehring of District 15 said he thinks the economy is picking up and Benton County may do better through the remainder of the year.

"I'm cautious, but optimistic," he said. "I think weather and other factors played a part in our sales tax being down earlier in the year. Our economy seems to be picking up. There's a lot of good signs and we should do better if those continue."

General News on 08/06/2014