Sales tax proceeds behind ’16 pace

February collections of the

1-cent sales tax Hot Springs levies in support of its General Fund were 8.56 percent off the previous February’s brisk pace, according to figures released Monday by the city’s finance department.

The $1,038,543 merchants collected fell $97,213 short of the February 2016 total, which was 22 percent more than the

$924,535 collected in February

2015. January collections rose

3.69 percent compared to January 2016. Collections for the first two months of 2017 are 3.1 percent less than the previous year, falling $63,486 off the 2016 pace.

The city projected the 1-cent sales tax would raise $13,541,026 this year, but collections through February are lagging

$69,036, or 3.3 percent, behind the budget forecast. The sales tax generated $13,122,238 in 2016 collections, a 4.29-percent increase over the $12,581,886 collected in 2015.

The city also levies a half-cent sales tax for its police and fire funds, with the police department receiving 60 percent of the proceeds and the fire department

40 percent.

January and February collections of the

3-cent sales tax the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission assesses on prepared food and lodging rose 6.1 percent compared to the first two months of 2016. The $921,177 realized during the first two months of this year is $53,594 more than last year.

January collections were up 8.52 percent on a year-over-year basis, and February collections were up 4.23 percent. The

$6,002,365 collected last year marked a

3.47-percent, or $201,181 increase over 2015.

January collections of the half-cent sales tax Garland County levies in support of its general and solid waste funds rose 9.57 percent compared to January 2016. The

$679,399 in collections was $65,028 more than the previous January.

The $8,840,476 collected last year exceeded the 2015 total by 1.6 percent, or

$137,673. Eighty percent of the proceeds supports the county’s General Fund, and 20 percent supports the solid waste fund.