Sales tax collections were up 7.25 percent compared to the same period last year, starting the City’s fiscal year, which began on July 1, out with a bang. The collections outlined in the July report issued by the Oklahoma Tax Commission represent local sales during portions of May and June.
“We started out last year with a 6 percent decrease, but this year we started up 7.25 percent, which is roughly $137,000 ahead of last year’s collection,” said City of Bartlesville Chief Financial Officer and City Clerk Jason Muninger. “We budget pretty conservatively and typically expect a reduction year over year, but this year that put us in an even better position, as we’re about 8.34 percent up. That’s $157,000 above budget expectations.”
Muninger said use tax, which is sales tax applied to online sales, was down just under 2 percent for the period.
“That’s really not saying much from a dollar standpoint — it’s about $6,000 down for the period compared to the prior year’s collection,” he said. “But compared to budget, we were up just shy of half a percent, which is roughly $2,000. So that’s not a bad way to start the fiscal year.”
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.