FARMINGTON -- Despite the new coronavirus pandemic and a partial closings for several months, local sales tax receipts continue to be up for Farmington and Prairie Grove.
Sales tax receipts collected in April were up for the two cities, compared to the same month last year, according to information from city officials. Sales tax receipts from the county were about the same.
Sales tax revenue distributed by the state represent sales from two months earlier, so payments received in June are from taxes collected in April.
Lincoln also has seen a slight increase in sales tax revenue. For March collection received from the May disbersement, Lincoln received $25,452 from its 1% sales tax, compared to $24,584 in 2019.
Lincoln received $26,546 in June from the 1% sales tax collected in May. Year to date, Lincoln's sales tax revenue is up for both local and county tax collections, compared to the same period in 2019.
Farmington collects a local 2% sales tax. Of this 1% goes into the general fund. For the second 1%, part is dedicated to paying off recreation and state improvement money and the rest goes into the general fund.
Farmington received $149,081 in sales tax in June for the general fund from sales in April, up $13,977 from $135,104 received the previous year.
County sales tax revenue collected in April for Farmington were about the same, compared to the same period last year, from $105,622 in 2019 to $104,879 in 2020, a difference of only $743.
Farmington Mayor Ernie Penn last week said he was "pleasantly surprised" with the April collection.
"I was real happy with that," Penn said. "I guess the real test will be the July disbursement from May so we can see if the trend will continue."
Penn said the city is staying on budget. He's told his department heads the city will not make any major purchases unless absolutely necessary.
Farmington is building an addition to the Police Department and doing some renovation to City Hall. One additional expense for this will be to purchase furnishings and other items for the new space.
Penn said he believes Farmington's revenue is staying steady during the pandemic because the places people shop have necessity items.
"I think that's what is helping us," Penn said.
In addition, Farmington doesn't rely on revenue from college students like Fayetteville and doesn't rely on revenue from hotels and motels.
Stores in Farmington, such as Tractor Supply, Neighborhood Market, Dollar Store and Dollar General, are continuing to have business.
"I think we'll be good," Penn said. "We'll keep an eye on it."
For the year to date, Farmington is up $155,432 in both its local and county sales tax, compared to last year.
Prairie Grove
In Prairie Grove, sales tax receipts from April are up 25% compared to last year, according to Larry Oelrich, director of administrative services and public works.
"We were shocked," Oelrich said about the figures. "County was about the same as last year but we'll take that."
Prairie Grove's local sales tax rate is 2.75%.
Looking at 1% of its sales tax rate, Prairie Grove received $56,008 in sales tax in June from sales in April, compared to $44,780 for 2019, a difference of $11,228. For the year, Prairie Grove's revenue is up 15.4%, compared to 2019.
Prairie Grove received $77,703 from the county sales tax for April sales, close to the same amount received last year.
Oelrich said he uses about 40 codes from the North American Industry Classification System to look at some trends on how money is being spent locally in different categories.
The May distribution report (for March sales) showed restaurant sales seemed steady and grocery sales were up about 40% in Prairie Grove, compared to the same period last year.
"The fact that restaurants were not down surprised me," Oelrich said.
Construction is ongoing and Prairie Grove receives a lot of its sales tax revenue in that area, Oelrich said, noting construction hasn't been affected by covid-19.
As an example, he said at least 30-40 houses are under construction in Prairie Grove.
"All that construction material is taxed," Oelrich said.
Lynn Kutter may be reached by email at [email protected].