According to the December sales tax report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission, sales tax collections were up about 8.5 percent compared to the same period last year, while use tax revenue showed a decrease of 20 percent, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer/City Clerk Jason Muninger said this week.
“Sales tax revenue was $2,122,346, which is up about $165,000, or 8.5 percent, compared to the same collection period last year,” Muninger said. “Use tax revenue, on the other hand, was down significantly, about 19 percent. That is comparing to the largest use tax collection on record, however, although we don’t have a lot of history to compare to as this tax is relatively new.”
The City’s use tax, which is sales tax applied to online sales, was implemented in January 2023.
“Use tax collections for the period was $418,848 compared to last year, $519,128 which is a 19 percent decline,” Muninger said.
Muninger said sales tax collections are up about 2.5 percent for the fiscal year, and use tax revenue, even with this month’s decrease, is still up about 1/4 of a percent.
Sales and use tax collections are approximately a month and a half behind, so holiday shopping is not represented in the current report, Muninger said.
“We receive a deposit around the eighth or ninth of the month, which is about a month and a half behind (sales), so when we’re looking at the December report, we’re seeing sales that occurred mostly in October,” he said.
Sales and 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.
“A lot of people think City operations are funded by property tax, but that is not the case,” Muninger said. “Municipalities in Oklahoma can only use property tax for debt service, so the only property tax we utilize is based on General Obligation bonds. Additionally, our 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.”