Sales Tax Revenue Has Double Digit Increases In Four Cities

November was a banner month for sales tax revenue, with all cities surpassing last year’s numbers.

Bentonville led the parade, followed by Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale, all of which had double-digit increases.

Sales tax revenue reported in November reflects September tax collected in October. Comparisons are based on collections from the same month in the previous year.

Each city, with the exception of Bella Vista, collects a 2 percent sales tax. One percent is devoted to repaying bonds. The other 1 percent goes into each city’s general fund and is available for operations. For the purpose of this report, NWA Media tracks the 1 percent going into general funds.

Bentonville received $826,585 in sales tax revenue this month compared with $677,590 last November, a difference of $148,999 and increase of 22 percent.

Denise Land, Bentonville finance director, said the city’s sales tax revenue is in good shape.

“We only need $600,000 to meet our budget and we expect we’ll get that and more in December,” Land said. “For right now, we are in good shape, and I’m happy.”

Fayetteville was the next strongest finisher with sales tax revenue 13.5 percent higher than last year. The city received $1,575,385 this month compared with $1,384,730 for the same period last year, an increase of $187,654.

“I am certainly happy about the increase. Everybody was up this month. I’m feeling very comfortable with our sales tax estimates for next year,” said Paul Becker, Fayetteville finance director. “We are 6.8 percent over what we budgeted for this year, so I would say we are doing well.”

Rogers was up $121,027 compared with last year. The city received $1,147,812 this month compared with $1,026,785 for the same period last year, an increase of 11.8 percent. This is the first month sales tax figures from the newly opened Cabela’s were included in the revenue.

Richard McComas, Rogers treasurer and chief financial officer, Dolly Lyon, assistant treasurer, and Mayor Greg Hines were out of the office Wednesday and couldn’t be reached for comment.

Springdale received sale tax revenue of $872,017 compared with $790,031 last November, an increase of $81,936 or 10.4 percent.

The November collection for this year are the best since the city’s November collection in its highest year of 2006, said Wyman Morgan, Springdale director of administration and financial services. For the most recent 12 months, Springdale has collected $10.2 million, a 4.19 percent increase over the previous 12 months, he said.

Sales tax receipts for the city haven’t topped $10 million in a calendar year since 2008, Morgan said. Springdale is on pace to top that mark this year, he said, needing less that $700,000 to do so. December collection was well over that last year, he said.

“The growth in sales tax receipts will increase the carryover from the 2012 budget,” Morgan said. “That will help us make up for the shortfall we are projecting for the 2013 budget.”

Steve Caraway contributed to this report.