ROGERS — Christmas sales tax revenue was good for Rogers and Fayetteville, but not so good for Springdale and Bentonville, based on information released Tuesday by the state.
Sales tax revenue received in February reflects December taxes collected in January. Comparisons are based on collections from the same month in the previous year.
Each of the four cities collects a 2 percent sales tax. One percent is devoted to repayment of bonds. The other 1 percent goes into each city’s general fund and is available for operations. For the purpose of this report, Northwest Arkansas Newspapers tracks the 1 percent going into the general fund.
Rogers received the largest sales tax check in its history. The city received $1,236,156, compared with $1,105,997 for the same period last year, an increase of $130,599 or 11.8 percent.
“We’re on a pretty good roll. We got our biggest collection ever and our sales tax revenue has been climbing for the past five months. This month was better than I expected and I’m not complaining,” said Jerry Hudlow, city treasurer.
Fayetteville’s sales tax revenue jumped 7 percent compared with December. The city received $1,626,919, compared with $1,519,337 in December, a difference of $107,581. This is the biggest check the city has gotten since February 2006 when the city received $1,668,801.
“This was good news for us. This is a very good number,” said Paul Becker, finance director.
Fayetteville’s sales tax numbers were up from October through December, but dipped $25,786 last month compared with January 2010.
“We decreased the amount of sale tax revenue we expected for 2011, so increases are always appreciated,” Becker said.
Bentonville received $724,080 this month, compared with $730,412 February last year, a decrease of $6,331 or 0.9 percent.
This is the first time since July that Bentonville’s sale tax revenue has dropped compared with the previous year.
“We’re down less that 1 percent. I’m not upset with our numbers. We budgeted to receive $660,000 in sales tax revenue every month. We may be down from February 2010 but we are still ahead of what we budgeted. I’m happy as long as we meet budget,” said Denise Land, finance director.
Sales tax revenue in Springdale continues to be less each month compared with the previous year, but there is a bright spot, said Wyman Morgan, administration and financial service director.
Springdale received $833,630 this month, compared with $897,024 for the same period last year, a difference of $63,394 or 7 percent.
“Our city sales tax isn’t increasing but the sales tax revenue we get from Washington County is growing,” Morgan said.
The increase in Springdale population means more county sales tax revenue goes to the city, Morgan said.
“Last year we received about $720,000 in county sales tax revenue in February compared with around $872,000 this year, an increase of 21 percent,” Morgan said.
Springdale extends into Benton County so the city also receives sales tax money from Benton County as well, although on a much smaller scale.
Morgan said the city received $36,000 from Benton County sales tax revenue in February last year. This year the revenue jumped to $97,000.