With just one month to go in the City’s fiscal year, sales tax revenue for Fiscal Year 2020-21 is on-target to be roughly 9 percent over the anticipated budget. In fact, the most recent sales tax report shows collections last month to be higher than any month in the City’s recorded history. CFO/City Clerk Jason Muninger talked with City Beat this week about what it all means.
Muninger: The most recent report, which includes sales tax collections over the past month or so, shows collections of more than $2 million. This is about $213,000 higher than any month we’ve ever collected. No one can ever say for sure why collections go up or down, though sometimes it’s more unpredictable than others. This is one of those times. We really weren’t expecting it. The timing of it happens to correspond with the stimulus checks issued by the federal government as well as a more return to normal with COVID-19 precautions, so those factors are most likely the contributors.
Where does this put the City of Bartlesville for the current fiscal year?
The City’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30, so we are only one month out from wrapping up the 2020-21 fiscal year. Year to date, we are up 3 percent over last year, which is 9 percent over what we anticipated when we finalized the budget at this time last year.
Why is there such a significant difference in the anticipated budget and actual collections?
We were well into the COVID pandemic at the time that we drafted and finalized the budget for our current fiscal year, FY 2020-21. At that time no one had any idea how the pandemic might impact sales tax collections over the weeks and months to come.
Sales tax revenue, of course, is the City’s primary funding resource for general operations. This includes funding for 18 of the City’s 22 departments, including the two largest: police and fire. While the City historically plans very conservatively, this year’s budget was planned even more conservatively because of the pandemic. Fortunately, we were less negatively impacted financially by the pandemic than we feared, so we ended the fiscal year higher than anticipated.
Why do you think Bartlesville wasn’t impacted as negatively as feared?
It is pretty clear that Bartlesville residents and the people who visit and shop here are to thank for this outcome. They continued to support our local businesses by spending locally, which in turn supports sales tax revenue. We are, as always, very thankful for that support.
Did online shopping impact the City in any way?
The City does not receive any revenue from online purchases where there is not a local presence in our state — or purchases made anywhere outside the city limits, for that matter. The tax applied to most online purchases is called a use tax, which the City of Bartlesville is not authorized to collect. This gets confusing sometimes because people will see a tax added to their online purchases and assume that is a City tax. This is a use tax collected by the State of Oklahoma. The City does not receive any of that revenue.
What is the next step in the budget process for the upcoming fiscal year?
City staff will have the proposed budget ready for City Council consideration this week. The council will hold a special workshop meeting on May 17 to kick off the process and could hold as many meetings as necessary over the coming weeks, until the budget is approved and finalized. There will be a public hearing for the public to address the council about the budget in June as well. The new budget will go into effect on July 1.
For more information about the upcoming 2021-22 FY budget, citizens may attend the City Council budget workshop meeting at 7 p.m. May 17 at City Hall, 401 S. Johnstone Ave. (seating is distanced to meet CDC COVID-19 guidelines) or view the meeting live on the City’s webcast, at www.cityofbartlesville.org.