September taxes outpace pre-COVID collections
September collections of the city of Hot Springs’ 1% general fund sales tax outpaced September 2019 collections by 19.29%.
The latter was the third month under an expanded tax base requiring internet retailers and e-commerce facilitators to collect and remit state and local sales taxes. The September report the city released provided a comparison to a pre-pandemic month with the expanded tax base, following the July and August reports that showed 16.74% and 25.67% increases in collections compared to 2019.
The city’s January and February reports corresponded to a 2020 period prior to the pandemic, but a winter storm affected February collections. Many businesses closed during the storm, contributing to a 6.34% drop in collections compared to February 2020.
The $1,390,578 the sales tax generated in September exceeded September 2020 by 5.88%, putting collections through the first three quarters 15.27%, or $1,677,008, ahead of last year’s record-setting pace. Third-quarter collections beat the revenue forecast by 13.54%, or $1,509,809. Collections are on pace to exceed last year’s record-setting $14,960,641 total by more than $2 million.
The 2022 budget the Hot Springs Board of Directors adopted earlier this month projected $17,432,998 in revenue from the sales tax, which accounted for more than half of the general fund’s $32.8 million in projected 2022 revenue.
The $664,993 the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission reported in September collections of the 3% sales tax it levies on prepared food and lodging in the city beat the previous September by 14.30%, or $83,196. The $6,224,718 the sales tax collected through the first three quarters exceeded 2020 by 34.62%, or $1,600,717.
The first nine months of collections surpassed the first three quarters of 2019 by 14.44%, or $785,484, and the first three quarters of 2018 by 24.38%, or $1,220,208.
The Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area’s seven-month jobs recovery
slowed in October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary report for the month. The local economy added 400 nonfarm jobs compared to the previous October, an 83% decline from the 2,350 jobs added on average on a yearover-year basis from April to September.
The local economy posted 12 straight months of job losses from April 2020 to March, losing more than 2,300 jobs a month on average.
According to BLS’ preliminary unemployment report, the local MSA had a 3.9% unemployment rate in September, down from 4.5% in August. September’s unemployment rate was the lowest since December 2019.
The local economy had 39,424 employed people in its workforce of 41,004. BLS defines the civilian labor force as people 16 and older who are working or actively looking for work.