Starkville’s most recent sales tax check from the Mississippi Department of Revenue was nearly $20,000 short of the previous October’s.
Returns totaled $566,347 this month, which reflects 18.5 percent of what city retailers collected in August and turned in to MDR in September.
Last October, the city was paid $585,942. It has received $3,917,644 so far in this calendar year. For the 2014 fiscal year, which began last October and ended at the end of last month, the city received $5,953,849. That’s a $236,235 improvement from the prior fiscal year.
West Point also saw a sizable improvement this month from the previous October. Its diversion was $206,844, a $23,779 increase from October 2013. The city measures its yearly returns beginning in July and ending the following June, so it has received $810,459 through four months.
In Columbus, sales tax returns got a $32,580 head start over the previous fiscal year. Returns from the Mississippi Department of Revenue totaled $745,150 there this month, which is the first of Fiscal Year 2015. Last October, the city received $712,570. It marks the highest October return in city record. The previous best October was in Fiscal Year 2011 when the city received nearly $733,700.
Restaurant and motel diversions also improved from last October in Columbus. Two percent restaurant returns totaled $127,027, which is nearly $10,000 from October 2013’s check. That money goes to the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Columbus motel tax returns were $25,406, more than $5,000 improved from the previous October.
Tourism tax reports for Starkville and West Point were not available at press time.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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