Sales tax revenue revs up across state, region
Jun. 28—TUPELO — Sales tax collections are up statewide as businesses throttle up their operations during the waning pandemic, according to figures by the Mississippi Department of Revenue.
A snapshot of several cities across Northeast Mississippi show a marked increase in sales tax from a year ago, even surpassing pre-pandemic levels of collections from 2019.
Tupelo, which has long been the economic hub of the the region, collected $2.21 million in April, a 49% increase from the pandemic-hampered figures from a year earlier, and a 24% improvement from 2019.
For the fiscal year to date, Tupelo has collected $21.7 million, a 13% increase from last year's $19.2 million that was collected. Two years ago, the April collections totaled $19.5 million.
Jim Beane, owner of Bar-B-Cue by Jim, said business has been booming in recent weeks. The restaurant has been open since 1993 and is a popular spot for plate lunches and, of course, barbecue.
"We've been open six days lately, and business is really picking back up," he said. "It's not quite back to where it was before the pandemic, but we're getting there."
Tupelo's sales tax collections in April were the fourth-highest in the state. Thirteen cities collected $1 million or more in April, with four bringing in at least $2 million. Tupelo trailed only Jackson ($2.75 million), Gulfport ($2.38 million) and Hattiesburg ($2.36 million) in total revenue.
Oxford had the second-highest sales tax collection total in Northeast Mississippi, bringing in $1.09 million compared to just under $610,000 last year and nearly $857,000 in 2019. For the fiscal year so far, Oxford has collected $9.28 million, compared to $8.63 million a year ago and $9.11 million two years ago.
"It was a record in April, and it was a record in March," said Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill. "May will be a record as well ... we hope that the trend continues."
Statewide, sales tax collection in April totaled nearly $47 million compared to about $35 million a year ago. In 2019 the state collected $37.6 million. So far during the fiscal year, the state has collected $455.7 million, some $48 million more than a year earlier and about $46 million higher than in 2019.
