Cummings Monitoring Sales Tax Revenue

RISON - County Judge Jimmy Cummings told the Cleveland County Quorum Court Monday night that the he and County Treasurer Angie Kimsey will investigate what seems to be a downward trend in sales tax revenue over the past few months.Cummings made the statement after the quorum court received the monthly financial report from Kimsey. He pointed out on the report that sales tax collection was down across the board in March when compared to the previous month as well as the same month last year. Cleveland County collects three local taxes that total 3.25 percent: a 1 percent 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. While the revenue generated for solid waste and the ambulance service can only be used for those purposes, the 1-cent general fund tax is the one that has the most impact on the dayto-day operations of the county.According the monthly financial report, the county collected $43,968.97 from the 1-cent general fund sales tax in March. That figure was down nearly 14 percent from February's collection ($51,113.17) and down about 18 percent from the March 2023 collection ($53.536.36).While sales tax collections do vary from month to month, Cummings said in an interview after the meeting that his major concern was the year-to-year comparison. A year-to-year comparison, he said, gives a more accurate assessment in that it takes into account the circumstances for that time of the year. For example, shopping around the Christmas holiday season would typically generate more sales tax revenue than those months before or after the holiday season.Cummings said he began to notice a decline in year-to-year sales tax revenue beginning last November. While the January sales tax collections were up over the previous year, he said the other months were not.Local sales taxes are collected by the Arkansas Department of ...