Sales tax revenues down in Madison Co.

Two Madison County sales tax revenue sources — the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and the Local Option Sales Tax — dropped significantly in the April. Those April figures actually reflect sales in the county from February.

“Merchants would have remitted February taxes to the state in March,” explained county finance director Kathy Clark. “The state would then remit to the local governments in April.”

SPLOST revenues totaled $122,705 for the April reporting period, the lowest monthly figure since 2006. The revenues were down roughly $26,000 or 17.6 percent from the previous month’s figures and $41,000 from April 2008.
So far in 2009, the county has collected $599,677 in SPLOST revenues, which puts the county on pace to collect roughly $1.8 million for 2009. The county collected $2.04 million in 2008 and $2.13 million in 2007.

Last year, voters approved renewal of a one-cent SPLOST for county improvements. Officials estimated that the tax would generate $12.6 million over six years. But local leaders have acknowledged that the economic slowdown may lead to lower figures than initially projected. For instance, SPLOST collections for the first four months of 2009 reflect a pace of $10.8 million over a six-year span. County officials have backed off plans to move forward with major SPLOST projects like the jail expansion in the near future, preferring to wait for a clearer revenue picture before proceeding.

Like SPLOST, the county’s LOST revenues were also down in April, dropping 17.6 percent from $110,556 in March to $90,812 in April.

County LOST revenues totaled $1.51 million last year and $1.58 million in 2007. The county is on pace to collect $1.33 million in LOST funds this year.