Lamar City Sales Tax Revenue, Monthly is Up, YTD is Down

For the first time in several months, the Lamar City Sales Tax posted a cumulative gain of 2.01% for Sales, Use and Other Collections for a gain of $5,168.65.  However, the City Sales Tax collections for April 2014, alone, were down a slight 1.34% for a $3,157.19 drop.

Year to Date collections were still short compared to this time last year with City Sales Tax collected at $1,252,364.02 for 2014, compared to $1,305,662.51 for a loss of $53,298.49, or off 4.08%.  Total Sales Tax Revenue, YTD was off 6.11%, or $89,338.38, comparing 2013 to 2014.

The 12 major Retail Trade categories showed a year to date drop in several areas, notably in Groceries and Department Store sales.  Grocery sales have been lagging about $8,000 month to month for the past two years.  Department Store sales have traditionally been showing a gain for that same period, but have also been lagging since the beginning of 2014.

.                                                 2012                                       2013                                       2014

Auto Parts                           60,389                                   56,173                                   54,597
Building Materials             42,762                                  39,832                                  36,820
Apparel                                14,629                                   14,967                                   14,262
C Stores/Gas                       41,374                                 40,844                                   40,268
Dept Stores                      466,464                                470,752                                 432,586
Furniture                             12,902                                   11,617                                    11,025
Grocery Stores                  114,606                                 111,912                                 103,547
Motels                                  52,686                                 56,016                                    51,556
Liquor Sales                        43,637                                 43,671                                    37,883
Manufacturing                      6,13                                   26,215                                       2,281
Restaurants                     134,920                                138,312                                    130,171
Other Retail                       20,747                                 22,269                                     21,682