Sales tax revenue for the City of Pine Bluff is forecast to be above the figures that city officials projected for the year.
During a meeting of the City Council’s Ways and Means Committee Wednesday, Finance Director Steve Miller said revenues collected from the city’s sales tax, county sales tax and the 2011 five-eighths cent sales tax are projected to be 1.9 percent above the amount he expected.
After the city and county sales taxes generated $13 million in 2016, collections slipped to $12.8 million in 2017. Miller said that trend continued through the first part of this year but picked up significantly in mid-year. He attributed the increase to insurance claims for vehicles and homes as a result of the hail storm.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Specifically, the city sales tax had generated $3.5 million through June 30, or just over $18,000 above what had been collected for the same period in 2017. That tax was projected to generate just over $7 million this year.
The county sales tax has collected just over $3 million through June 30, almost $80,000 more than for the same period last year. That tax is projected to generate just over $6 million.
The 2011 five-eighths cent sales tax has produced nearly $2.2 million so far this year, which is almost $18,000 above the amount collected last year at this time. That tax was projected to generate close to $4.4 million this year.
Looking at other revenue sources, franchise fees from Entergy, which were budgeted at $1.7 million, are projected to fall short of that figure by $10,000 by year’s end while franchise fees from Centerpoint Energy are projected to be $100,000 ahead of the $425,000 projection. The franchise fees for Liberty Utilities and telephone service, which generates around $600,000 between them, are projected to be close to their budgeted levels while cable television fees are projected to fall short of projections.