Sales tax receipts up

■ March totals represent sales that occurred in -DnuDry.

Siloam Springs sales tax receipts were up 11.58 percent in March compared to the same month last year.

Sales tax receipts were $646,161 in March 2020, up $67,068 from $579,093 in March 2019, according to the April issue of City & Town magazine. County sales tax receipts for Siloam Springs were up 6.65 percent, from $266,002 in March of 2019 to $283,692 in March of this year.

The numbers actually represent taxes collected from sales that occurred in January and were dispersed to the city in March, so they do not reflect the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, according to City Administrator Phillip Patterson. Businesses report sales tax collections to the state and it takes a couple of months for the taxes to be processed and dispersed to the city, he said.

Patterson said he does not expect to see the impact of covid-19 closures, which began in mid-March, on city sales tax receipts until May.

Finance Director Christina Petriches has estimated the city could experience an 8 percent reduction in budgeted revenue from all sources, including sales taxes and utility sales, for the current year due to the pandemic, Patterson said.

City officials tried to be conservative when estimating how much revenue will be reduced, he said. The state does not give the city data on individual retailers, but city officials can use North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes to estimate which types of businesses may see a significant drop in their sales figures because of

closures, Patterson said. Personal service businesses, such as barbershops and beauty salons, are entirely closed, while restaurant and food service establishments, which are only allowed to serve curbside or to-go food, will likely see a significant drop in sales, Patterson said.

The city is also seeing a significant drop in electricity sales with the closure of John Brown University facilities and dorms, public schools and the La-ZBoy manufacturing facility, while other manufacturing facilities are only open limited hours, he said. Water and sewer sales have been largely unaffected, he said.

The city’s sales tax receipts come from its 2 percent sales tax. The total sales tax rate in Siloam Springs is 9.5 percent.

City sales tax receipts are used for utility infrastructure, repayment of wastewater treatment plant bonds, the city’s general fund, public safety and the street department.

A share of county sales tax receipts pays on two water utility infrastructure bonds.

Other cities that saw an increase in city sales tax receipts were:

• Eureka Springs, up 11.11 percent to $154,570

• Fayetteville, up 6.65 percent to $3.56 million

• Lincoln, up 1.1 percent to $41,886

• Rogers, up 14.2 percent to $3.18 million

• Springdale, up 2.78 percent to $2.41 million.

Cities that saw a decrease in city sales tax receipts were:

• Bentonville, down 9.07 percent to $2.19 million.