Many area towns see sales tax payments drop from last year’s levels

By Susan Brittingham
Features Editor

September 10, 2007 11:50 am

— Maybe it was all that back-to-school clothes buying that has raised the city’s coffers by $110,562.23.
That amount is according to a report from the Oklahoma Tax Commission.
In August 2006, the city collected $1,082,195.87 in sales tax disbursements. For August 2007, the amount was $1,192,758.10.
August’s disbursements reflect sales from June 16 to July 15.
The amount of city sales tax that is collected “often increases right when school starts, then kind of drops off between now and when people start buying for the holidays,” said Sherry Alessi, the city’s acting treasurer.
She said there was also an increase in the amount of machinery, electronics, lumber and general building materials that were bought between June 16 and July 15.
“Also, the fire department said traffic has increased tremendously,” Alessi said. “Obviously there are a lot more people here and they are purchasing more.”
Along with sales tax revenues, the OTC also reports the amount of use taxes collected by both cities and counties.
This money comes from purchases made outside the state, items bought from retailers who don’t collect state sales tax. Purchasers are responsible for paying use taxes on out-of-state purchases, according to the OTC.
The following is a list of area city use tax collection amounts which compare those from August 2007 to August 2006.
Alderson: $7,177.18, was $1,13.19; Calvin: $105.48, down from $317.14; Crowder: $451.30, was $205.04; Eufaula: $5,756.81, up from $4,706.63; Haileyville: $5,466.41, up dramatically from $141; Hartshorne: $2,498.24, was $1,390.52; Kiowa: $781.29, up a bit from $736.56; Krebs: $4,360.05, slightly more than doubled from $2,140.59; McAlester: the highest total revenue in the area at $53,699.65, when it was $34,559.22 last year.
Quinton also saw an increase, $1,658.15, when it was $1,433.63; Red Oak: up several thousand from $6,416.69, when it was $377.07; Savanna: $111.34, up 100 percent from the $0 collected last August; Stigler: $5,928.39, up from $3,780.32; and Wilburton, an almost triple increase with current revenues of $14,523, when last August’s revenues were $5,665.47.
There are five local counties that collect use taxes. Atoka County reported $20,413.89, compared to $4,352.48 in August 2006; Haskell County jumped to $6,065.76 from $5,882.29; Latimer County tripled from $21,774.34 in 2006 to $64,665.03 this year; McIntosh County also did some fast multiplying, going from $2,937.56 to $10,204.92.
Pittsburg County leapt from $15,888.27 in August 2006 to $34,714.66 in August 2007.