Continued Drop in Lamar City Sales Tax Revenue

The Sales and Use Tax collected for June in the City of Lamar showed a drop of 25.24% comparing figures for 2013 and 2014.  June City Sales Tax collected was $249,727 compared to $334,024 for 2013, for a drop of $84,296.  Use Tax collected showed a 52% gain for 2014 with $24,848 compared to 2013 of $16,342 for a gain of $8,505.  Total collections for 2014 fell short of last year for June at $274,994 for this year and $348,100 for 2013 for an overall decrease of $73,106, or 21%

Year to Date figures also noted the monthly steady decline in tax collections with City Sales Tax off 7.70% for the year at $1,747,982 for 2014, compared to last year’s figure of $1,893,859 for a loss of $145,876.  Use Tax was off 14.17, Year to Date for a drop of $25,730 and the compiled taxes show a loss of 8.11% with YTD figures for 2013 at $1,919,560 to $2,089,017 for this year, a decrease of $169,456.

Each of the twelve retail sales categories noted a Year to Date decrease, comparing 2013 to 2014.

2012                       2013                       2014
Auto Parts                           88,060                   80,933                   77,800
Building Materials             65,658                   61,687                    58,593
Apparel                                 20,373                  20,537                    19,257
C Stores/Gas                       60,370                  60,149                    58,951
Department Stores           657,617                662,532                  612,669
Furniture                              15,766                  14,880                     13,450
Grocery Stores                   161,970                157,368                   145,484
Motels                                   86,777                 88,098                     79,922
Liquor                                   64,441                  63,270                    56,058
Manufacturing                      8,828                 32,157                        3,847
Other Retail                         28,767                30,637                      29,628
Restaurants                       198,602               199,272                    188,838