June sales taxes plummet; auto, industrial sectors show big decreases

In June, St. Mary Parish sales and use tax collections plummeted more than 20 percent compared to June 2014, the biggest monthly dip so far in 2015, marking the eighth straight month of declining sales tax collections in the parish.
June sales and use tax total collections of $2.96 million dropped 20.3 percent from the June 2014 collections of $3.71 million.
St. Mary Parish Sales and Use Tax Director Jeffery LaGrange said “it was disturbing to see” such a large decrease in collections in June.
“Hopefully, we’ll start decreasing the deficit,” LaGrange said, referring to the months of declining sales tax revenues.
However, LaGrange isn’t expecting a recovery any time soon as he’s heard predictions that gas prices are projected to drop again.
The parish has seen eight consecutive months of decreasing sales tax revenues compared to the same month of the prior year.
“It’s definitely going to affect everyone (in local government) who hasn’t budgeted for a decrease,” LaGrange said.
Sales and use tax collections in the second quarter totaled $9.72 million, down 16.6 percent from the $11.66 million collected for the same period in 2014, according to the latest report.
Second quarter collections for the parish hotel sales tax came in at $183,268, a 3.2 percent increase over the 2014 second quarter sales tax revenues, which totaled $177,549.
The second quarter’s decline in sales and tax collections continued the downward trend the parish saw in the first quarter of 2015. In the first quarter, collections totaled $10.86 million, down 7 percent from the $11.68 million collected in the 2014 first quarter.
In June, hotel sales tax collections stayed almost static with about a 0.7 percent increase compared to June 2014. June hotel tax revenues were $56,806, up slightly from the $56,433 collected in June 2014.
LaGrange’s report of the top 50 sales and use remitters in the parish was down 14 percent in June compared to June 2014, he said. Of the 14 industrial remitters from 2014 top 50, only three made it back into the 2015 top 50, LaGrange said.
“Therefore, I can say with some certainty that most of our decreases are coming from Automobile and Industrial remitters,” LaGrange said in an email.
Other decreases in the top 50 remitters’ June report included the Department of Public Safety, 14 percent; dollar stores, 11 percent; and department stores, 2 percent.
Morgan City’s 0.3 percent road royalty tax brought in $69,129 in June, bringing the year-to-date collections from the tax to $465,784.
The following occupational licenses were filed in June; St. Mary Parish, $13,340; city of Morgan City, $3,398; city of Patterson, $1,050; city of Franklin, $1,012; town of Berwick, $100; and town of Baldwin, $63.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com.