Sales tax revenues up 1% through 3rd quarter

Though St. Mary Parish sales and use tax revenues are up slightly more than 1 percent through the end of the third quarter compared to the same period in 2013, September marked the fourth consecutive month of declining numbers, St. Mary Parish Sales and Use Tax Director Jeffrey LaGrange said in an email.
The year-to-date collections for the parish’s 4 percent sales and use tax is at $32,458,000 through three quarters, excluding audits, an increase of 1.15 percent more than the $32,089,000 collected over the same period in 2013, according to the September parish sales and use tax report. During this period, $1,259,000 in revenues were collected from audits compared to $2,150,000 in revenues collected from audits in 2013.
LaGrange’s budgeted projection for 2014 sales and use tax revenues was a 7 percent increase more than the 2013 numbers, he said. “So, the last quarter needs to take up some slack,” LaGrange said.
According to the September report, monthly revenues totaled $3,316,000, a 5.8 percent decrease, excluding audits, from September 2013 collections, which totaled $3,519,000. September collections from audits yielded $66,000 while September 2013 collections from audits yielded $10,000. Total sales and use collections dropped 7.38 percent including audits, according to the report.
With four consecutive months of sales and use tax revenue below last year’s figures, excluding audits, LaGrange is concerned that the parish has a weakened, yet stabile, economy, he said.
“Purchase of large ticket retail continues to be slow probably due to instability on the federal level,” LaGrange said. “We are working but not spending.”
Third quarter collections added up to $10,952,000 down from the $12,945,000 collected in the 2013 third quarter. Third quarter audits totaled $390,000 while 2013 third quarter audits came in at $1,799,000. Third quarter collections increased by 15.4 percent with audits and by 5.24 percent excluding audits.
Morgan City’s 0.3 percent road tax yielded $75,009.81 in September, which brings the yearly total to $772,012.93, according to the report. Morgan City’s regular 0.3 percent sales tax accumulated $75,416.99, ending the third quarter with a total of $767,839.02 collected, the report stated. The parish’s hotel-motel tax brought in $60,396.80 for September, a 7.62 percent decrease from the $65,377.77 the tax yielded in September 2013.
The following occupational license fees were collected in October: City of Morgan City, $10,424.91; St. Mary Parish, $1,627.50; City of Franklin, $61; Town of Berwick, $50; Town of Baldwin, $0.