Sales and use tax revenue up for city, down for county in August

Sales and use tax revenue up for city, down for county in August

By Ken Childers

ONL Editor

Sales and use tax revenue was up in August for the City of Okemah, according to the latest report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC).

The report, dated Oct. 13, shows that the city received a sales tax distribution this month of $116,720.98, a six percent increase over October 2019 when the amount was $109,228.19. The use tax disbursement of $19,283.06 was up 26 percent over the previous year’s amount of $14,261.09, according to the report. The city saw a nine percent increase in sales tax revenue with last month’s disbursement but use tax collections were down 39 percent from September 2019.

The October disbursement was based mostly on August sales tax receipts and use tax collections. Use tax is collected when goods are purchased, online or otherwise, outside of Oklahoma then used within the state.

While revenue was up for the city, Okfuskee County saw a decline in both sales tax and use tax revenue. The county’s sales tax distribution of $118,298.54 was down seven percent from this time last year and the amount representing use taxes, $28,269.52, was down two percent. One year ago the amounts were $126,961.92 and $28,876.71, respectively. In September, sales tax receipts were up seven percent and use tax revenue was up nearly 50 percent.

Up until this week, Okfuskee County deposited use tax revenue into its general fund, but on Oct. 19 the Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution to apportion 1.25 percent of the use tax fund for salaries, maintenance, operation and capital outlay at the county jail.

Sales tax collections around the county

Boley realized a four percent decrease from October 2019 with a disbursement of $8,344.13, Castle’s amount of $1,366.91 was down 20 percent from the previous year; Clearview received $366.80; Paden saw a 12 percent increase with a disbursement of $17,104.67 and Weleetka received $19,334.35, up 31 percent from this time last year.

The towns of Boley and Weleetka also received use tax disbursements this month. Boley’s distribution totaled $1,454.02, up 57 percent over October 2019 and Weleetka saw a 52 percent increase with a disbursement of $5,021.00.

Sales tax collections for other nearby cities and towns

Bristow: $304,809.43 (+3 percent)

Henryetta: $242,471.51 (+6 percent)

Okmulgee: $525,137.31 (-2 percent)

Prague: $115,268.20 (+23 percent)

Wetumka: $41,692.62 (+19 percent)

The October distribution of sales tax collections by the Oklahoma Tax Commission primarily represents local tax receipts from August business. Companies that remit more than $2,500 monthly in sales tax receipts are required to file and pay electronically. The monies they reported this period represent sales from Aug. 16 – 31 and estimated sales from Sept. 1 – Sept. 15.