Sales tax collections were up 5.3 percent compared to the same period last year, while use tax revenue continues to be volatile but trending toward growth, City of Bartlesville Chief Financial Officer Jason Muninger said this week.
According to the June report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, the City of Bartlesville received $1,964,981 in sales tax collections and $367,348 in use tax collections for the most recent period. Revenue for both taxes is considered to be mostly flat but trending upward, Muninger said.
“We’re up $100,000 for the period over last year in sales tax revenue and down just $126,000 for use
tax,” Muninger said. “Sales tax collections remain mostly flat, with only minor fluctuations either way. Use tax continues to fluctuate from month to month, but overall it is trending upward.
“Of course, we always budget conservatively, so we are also in good shape comparing budget expectations, with sales tax up $547,000, or 2.38 percent, and use tax up $488,000, or 10.4 percent.”
Muninger points out the numbers are somewhat misleading due to larger than average collections over the past few years.
“Keep in mind we are comparing back to some fairly high numbers,” he said.
Tax Facts:
Sales and use tax collections lag approximately a month and a half behind.
Most sales (78 percent) and all use tax revenue go into the General Fund, which provides funding for most
operations of the City of Bartlesville, of which police and fire are the largest.
City operations are not funded by property tax, as is popularly believed. Municipalities in Oklahoma can only use property tax for debt service or court-ordered judgements, so the only property tax the City utilizes is based on General Obligation bonds and a small amount for court-ordered workers compensation claims. Additionally, the City’s utility services are self-contained, meaning those departments are operated based on the rates and fees collected by each utility. So sales tax, which includes use tax, is used to fund everything else.
For more information about the City’s budgets, see www.cityofbartlesville.org.