Lamar City Sales Tax Turnaround?

For the second straight month, the Sales Tax Revenue for the City of Lamar has posted a gain.  January 2015 Sales Tax collected in February shows a $20,511 gain of 9.32% and Total Sales and Use Tax posted an increase of 6.69% for a gain of $16,247 on the year.  Total collections were $258,989 for the two months of the year, compared to $242,741 for the same period in 2014.

Year to Date figures show an increase of 4.71% for City Sales Tax and Total collections show a 4.53% boost over 2014.  Year to Date figures are $610,450 for 2015 and $584,009 for 2014 for a gain of $26,440 on collected taxes.

While it’s still early in the year for any solid revenue trend, the twelve tax collection categories are showing a mix for figures for this year, compared to the previous two years:

2013                       2014                       2015

Auto Parts/Repairs                            22,193                   21,657                   23,804
Building Materials                             17,017                    14,993                    12,440
Apparel/Dept Stores                      207,335                 199,728                    191,161
C Stores/Gas                                       15,640                   15,694                     16,772
All Business/Electricity                    40,571                   40,796                    47,334
Furn/Appliance/Elec                          5,350                     5,853                       4,717
Grocery Stores                                    46,335                  42,664                    33,424
Motels                                                   19,952                   19,804                     17,379
Liquor/Bars                                         18,158                    17,054                    16,678
Manufacturing                                    21,066                        830                      3,087
Restaurants                                          52,142                   51,794                     50,141
Other Retail/All Other                     162,726                148,036                   165,775