Sales tax receipts up for August

Collections of city and food-and-lodging sales taxes in August rebounded from their July slump, according to figures released earlier this week.

The 1-cent sales tax Hot Springs levies in support of its General Fund beat the August 2016 pace by 6.44 percent, generating $1,075,766. The $65,097 increase brought collections for the first eight months of 2017 to $8,728,506. July’s collections were 2.19 percent behind the previous year’s tally.

Collections through the first eight months lagged 0.14 percent behind last year’s pace and 3.5 percent behind the $9,041,078 projection. Collections have fallen short of projections in each of the first eight months.

The city’s 2017 budget projected $13,541,026 in annual receipts after the sales tax raised $12,581,866 in 2015 and $13,122,238 last year.

August collections of the 3-cent sales tax the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission assesses on prepared foods and lodging inside the city rose 0.21 percent to $465,220. The $4,355,401 collected through August is 3.2 percent more than last year despite July’s $632,874 total missing last year’s mark by 1.5 percent.

Restaurant collections rose 3.4 percent in August to $3,340,539, and hotel collections rose 2.7 percent to $1,014,862.

The city code stipulates the tax be used to promote the city and support the maintenance and operation of the Hot Springs Convention Center. The tax generated almost $6 million last year. Per city code, payments and collection reports from the previous month are due on the 20th day of the month.

Garland County has yet to release figures for August collections of the half-cent sales tax it levies for its General and Solid Waste funds. The $748,607 collected in July was 6.7 percent behind last year’s mark.