New sales tax rate coming soon; Guthrie sales up 7.9%

With the sale of Logan Medical Center to Mercy Health now official, Guthrie and Logan County residents will now see a lowered sales tax.

Guthrie City Manager Matt Mueller said his office received a notification that the sales tax rate will be lowered effective November 1.

“This will change the new cumulative tax rate inside the city limits from 9.25% down to 8.5%,” Mueller said in his weekly update. “This is a County tax, not a City tax that is going away so we do not have any direct involvement in the issue.”

Break down of the 9.25% Sales Tax:

State – 4.5%

County – 1.75%
Hospital – .75% – expires on October 31, 2011
Jail – .75%
Fire Districts – .25%

City of Guthrie – 3% (average city tax in Oklahoma is 3.77%)

Guthrie continues to see higher sales tax numbers

The City of Guthrie sales tax deposit this month was $339,165 compared to the $314,336 that was deposited this time last year. 

“We received our sales tax numbers this week and it is a great way to start the new fiscal year,” Mueller said. “This is a 7.9% increase compared to the previous year’s comparison and an 8.34% increase from the $313,045 deposited this time in 08-09 (which was the last fiscal year before we started seeing the effects of the economy on our sales tax). 

Mueller said the city needs to maintain an average of $305,000 per month to meet budget projections.