July marks the first month of the City of Bartlesville’s new fiscal year, and CFO/City Clerk Jason Muninger is happy to say FY 2021-22 is off to a good start. Sales tax continues to show good returns after finishing the previous fiscal year, which closed June 30, exceeding budget expectations. Muninger gives an update in this week’s edition of Director’s Cut.
City Beat: We have the July sales tax report showing sales tax receipts for July, the first month of the City’s fiscal year. How did we do?
Muninger: Very well, actually. Sales tax for the month reflect the largest July deposit on record, at $1.8 million. That’s an 8 percent increase, or $140,000, over the same period last year and $150,000 over budget expectation.
The City seems to be on a winning streak lately, with increases in sales tax revenue coming in consistently. How did FY 2020-21 end up?
The City performed very well for FY 2020-21, especially given all the unknowns we faced last year due to the pandemic. We ended the year 5.5 percent over the prior year’s sales tax collections, which is 11.2 percent over what we anticipated when we finalized the budget at that time the previous year.
What do you attribute trend this to?
We always like to stress that the reasons for fluctuations in sales tax revenue can’t be known for certain. However, we believe two factors contribute to the July receipts and the increases in revenue last year. One is that Bartlesville residents are choosing to shop locally more than in the past, likely due to the pandemic. The other factor is federal stimulus funds, as we have noticed a correlation in the timing of the issuance of stimulus funds and the increased sales. In short, people simply have more money to spend and they are spending it in Bartlesville.
Can you remind everyone what these sales tax revenues are used for?
Sales tax revenue makes up the bulk of the General Fund, which is used to fund almost all City operations. This includes General Fund personnel and all City programs and services except utilities. In other words, just about everything not funded through Utility Funds comes from the General Fund.
Do we expect this upward trend to continue?
We certainly hope so. Larger municipalities in our state are not faring nearly as well, so those communities are really hurting. Bartlesville is very fortunate to have the support of the citizens and a robust business community that is able to keep consumers shopping locally.