Rogers Leads In Sales Tax Collections

Three of the region's largest cities recorded increases in sale tax revenue this month, but Bentonville had a sharp decline.

Rogers had the largest percentage gain this month at 11.8 percent compared to the same period last year. The city received sales tax revenue of $1,250,032, a $131,965 increase over September 2013 revenue of $1,118,067.

By The Numbers (w/logo)

Sales Taxes

City20132014*Percentage Change

Bentonville$844,390$697,318*-17.4

Rogers$1,118,067$1,250,032*+11.8

Springdale$901,976$975,853*+8.2

Fayetteville$1,465,609$1,482,131*+1.3

Siloam Springs$248,894$266,401*+7.3

Bella Vista$115,638$145,311*+25.7

Lowell$327,471$231,534*-29.3

Source: Staff Report

"I think we are seeing the front edge of the sales tax impact of the AMP," said Casey Wilhelm, city finance director. The Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion opened this summer.

July is always a odd month to figure for sales tax. School is out, and people don't usually shop much in the heat, she said.

"The AMP is the only thing I can think of that happened in July. We haven't seen any new big box stores open in a while," she said.

Wilhelm said she budgeted for $14 million in sales tax revenue for the year.

"As it stands now, we are about $600,000 over the sales tax budget for the year. We're at 79 percent of our sales tax budget. I think we will exceed our sales tax revenue budget if we have a good Christmas season," Wilhelm said.

Christmas shopping was off last year because of weather conditions.

Springdale received $975,853 this month compared to $901,976 last year, an increase of $73,877 or 8.2 percent. A new Walmart Supercenter opened in Springdale last month, but sales tax revenue from the store won't show up until November.

"We'll take it," said a happy Wyman Morgan, Springdale administration and finance director.

Better things are coming to Springdale, he said.

"We are up 4.85 percent over the previous 12-month period, or about $508,000. By September last year, we had collected $7.8 million in sales tax revenue. This year, we have collected $8.3 million in sales tax revenue. We have a lot of things going on in Springdale, and people are beginning to notice," Morgan said.

Fayetteville sales tax revenue rose a modest 1.3 percent this month compared to the same period last year. The city received $1,482,131 compared to $1,465,609 last September, an increase of $16,522.

"We were up slightly, but not enough to stay in line with the budget," said Paul Becker, city finance director.

The majority of students at the University of Arkansas are out of town during August, Becker said.

"Next month we should see an increase in sales tax revenue as students return to the university. We did get some help from Springdale. They were up, which means our county sales tax revenue will increase," Becker said.

Bentonville registered the biggest loss. Sales tax revenue dropped $147,072 compared with last year. The city received $697,318 compared to $844,390 last year, a dip of 17.4 percent.

Three calls Monday to Denise Land, Bentonville finance director, were not returned by 5 p.m.

Sales tax revenue represents sales tax charged in July, collected in August and distributed to cities in September.

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. For the purpose of this report, NWA Media tracks the 1 percent going into general funds.

NW News on 09/23/2014

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