City receives first use tax revenue; $425,000 in new funds
March sales tax revenue is up 16 percent, making the month the largest March collection on-record, Chief Finance Officer/City Clerk Jason Muninger said this week.
“This is our highest March by $253,000, which is substantially higher than previous March collections,” Muninger said. “We were up 16 percent over the same period last year, which puts us about 4.25 percent up for the year. That equates to roughly $711,000 over the prior fiscal year.”
Muninger said the City is currently 8.9 percent above budget expectations for the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
“We budget conservatively every fiscal year, so the over-budget increases are not as surprising as they might seem on the surface,” he said.
With only a couple of exceptions, City sales tax collections have shown increases over the past two years, many times with record highs. Local shopping, inflation, and stimulus funds are thought to be factors in the increases.
Use tax
The City also received use tax revenue for the first time since the tax went into effect on Jan. 1
“We have received our first use tax collection — $425,000 — but it’s a little misleading because it’s the January collection and an estimate for February,” Muninger said. “It probably would have been somewhere between the $200,000 to $250,000 mark without the estimates included.”
Muninger said City officials should have a better idea how to budget appropriately for use tax revenue after the first quarter.
“Because the use tax just went into effect in January, we have no existing data to compare trends or fluctuations,” he said. “We should have a better idea of that after the first quarter, so that will help us budget for the next fiscal year.”