The State of Oklahoma’s November Sales Tax Report indicates Bartlesville sales tax receipts were up slightly over 6 percent over the same period last year, City CFO and City Clerk Jason Muninger said Monday.
“Our sales tax revenue for sales occurring mostly in September was up 6.81 percent, according to the most recent report,” Muninger said. “That is very good news, especially considering that we were bracing for as much as a 5 percent decrease in revenue due to the pandemic.”
Muninger said the upward trend comes after two months of declining revenues.
“We started our fiscal year (July 1 through June 30) off very well with increases reflected in the July and August reports but then saw a dip in September and October,” he said. “So seeing those revenues begin to trend back upward is a very good sign.”
Muninger said changes in shopping habits due to the Covid-19 pandemic has made predicting sales tax outcomes more difficult.
“The fact is more people are shopping online and, in those cases, we may or may not actually receive sales tax for those purchases,” he said. “At the same time, more people are shopping locally due to the pandemic, which always makes a huge difference. Unfortunately, it has become much harder to predict, and no one can say with any certainty why revenues are up or down at any given point due to the unprecedented nature of the pandemic and its impact on the many factors in play.”