Starkville recorded a 3.18 percent decline in sales tax receipts in February compared to last year’s mark, which represents the first downward trend for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
While the city reported an $18,985.33 drop between February 2016 and the same month this year, its 2-percent food and beverage tax receipts surged 22.83 percent — about $38,000 — in the same time frame.
That increase represents the largest recorded this fiscal year, which includes declines in November (0.79 percent) and December (6.31 percent), and the third largest percentage increase between two months since Fiscal Year 2014.
Heath Barret, the Greater Starkville Development Partnership’s interim chief executive officer, said it’s likely Mississippi State University athletic events, including the women’s basketball team’s historic run, brought people into Starkville and its restaurants, as few nonsporting tourism events were held that month.
MSU hosted numerous sporting events across multiple sports that month: baseball (nine), softball (10), games, men’s basketball (four), women’s basketball (four), men’s tennis (one), women’s tennis (six) and women’s soccer (one exhibition game).
Barret said February’s UnWINE Downtown event had more participants than usual, but spring’s biggest tourism draws — the Cotton District Arts Festival and Super Bulldog Weekend — were, at the time, still two months away.
“Without those tourism events in the month, it’s really hard to predict how February will be in terms of tourism and restaurant spending,” he said. “We’re hopeful the numbers will continue to be strong and that we’ll see growth in the rest of the spring months.”
While restaurants reported a solid February, hotel figures were not as positive.
Starkville reported a 15.73 percent decrease from last February’s total, which represents a $3,662.58 drop from 2016’s mark. January was also a down month when compared to last year’s totals, and the city reported a 14.53 percent drop in those revenues.
Starkville’s decline in sales tax receipts, which does not include 2-percent revenues, comes after the city recorded a 15.35 percent increase from February 2015 to February 2016. Last calendar year, the city only reported two months — May and September — where sales tax figures declined from their 2015 marks.
For the calendar year, the city brought in $6.93 million in general sales taxes last year, which was a $369,125 increase from 2015’s total, and averaged $577.638 per month. Starkville is averaging $552,414 after two months of reporting in 2017.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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