Sales tax dollars have not reached expectations in the first two months of the fiscal year for the City of Guthrie.
Sales tax revenue for November 2018 is down 4.67 percent (minus $25,595.43) as compared to November 2017.
For the first two months of the budget year, the City’s sales tax is down 1.94 percent ($21,294.84) as compared to the first two months of last year’s budget.
So far, the City is 5.65 percent below projection or $64,388.
In the month of November, the City received $522,446.26 in sales tax. Of the dollar amount, 417,957.01 was deposited into the General Fund (three percent) and $104,489.25 to the Capital Improvement Fund (0.75 percent).
In last year’s budget year (October 2017 – September 2018), sales tax receipts equaled $6,777,946.79 for the year and ended the year 9.76 percent higher than budgeted, or $602,947.
Raise the tax in a town where a lot of people travel through or to another area and they will shift where they make purchases. Edmond isn’t all that far and the bigger the purchase the more worthwhile it is to make the drive. Not to mention that about the only choice for a lot of purchases is Wal-Mart which a lot of people have soured on.
Keep the tax rate in line with Edmond and people will move their purchases back or better yet leave it a little lower and encourage some businesses to locate here.
Luckily, City of Guthrie had their largest sales tax on record in the last fiscal year.
City of Guthrie and City of Edmond shares the same city sales tax at 3.75 percent. The difference is Logan County has a sales tax (0.75 percent) and the wealthiest and only county in Oklahoma (Oklahoma County) does not have a sales tax.
However, if the Oklahoma County Jail needs to be replaced, a county sales tax might be the only option to fund it.
Currently
$100 trip to Guthrie Walmart is $108.75
$100 trip to Edmond Walmart is $108.25