County Sales Tax Collections on Decline

RISON - After enjoying unexpected gains in sales tax revenue over the past few years, Cleveland County may be seeing a reversal of fortunes.Over the first six months of this year, Cleveland County collected less revenue in five of those months when compared to the monthly collections last year. Overall, county sales tax revenue is down by about 9 percent compared to the first six months of 2023.According to figures provided by Cleveland County Treasurer Angie Kimsey, the county's 1cent general sales tax has generated $278,865.17 in revenue over the first six months. In comparison, the county collected $307,660.50 from that same 1-cent sales tax over the first six months of last year. That is an overall loss of $28,795.33 (9.3 percent) in revenue.Cleveland County has three different sales taxes that total 3.25 percent: a 1 percent general sales tax that is split between roads (61 percent) and county general (31 percent); a 2 percent tax to fund solid waste; and a 0.25 percent tax to fund an ambulance service.The downward trend in the 1cent sales tax collections is also reflected in the taxes collected for the solid waste and ambulance funds since all three sales taxes are applied to the same products or services sold in the county.County Judge Jimmy Cummings first mentioned the declining sales tax revenue during the April meeting of the Cleveland County Quorum Court. In that meeting, Kimsey's monthly financial report showed that sales tax revenue for March 2024 had declined by $9,567.49 when compared to March 2023. That equated to a 17.8 percent loss.In an interview after the April meeting, Cummings said he first noticed the declining sales tax revenue during the final quarter of 2023. He said if it continued, he may have to ask the county departments to cut back on spending later in the year.Cummings said this week that while the county has seen a net decline of about $3,400 in its projected revenue, he did not ant...