Retail revenues up in Craighead
Jonesboro Sun
Keith Inman
12/30/2005
JONESBORO -- Retail sales in Craighead County apparently rebounded after a month of sluggish sales, based on sales tax distributions for December.
The countywide 1 percent sales tax showed a 6.9 percent growth compared to a year ago, while revenue from Jonesboro's 1 percent city sales tax was up by 5.4 percent.
The December report generally represents taxes collected by retailers in October and turned in to the state Department of Finance and Administration during November.
The countywide tax produced $1,094,149 for Craighead County government and its 10 municipalities.
Jonesboro's tax produced $982,351.
While the December report showed a healthy increase in funds, some observers had looked for more. Target and JC Penney opened new stores in The Mall at Turtle Creek in October. Those retailers had reported heavy traffic during the first weeks of their new operations.
Jonesboro relies on sales taxes for approximately 60 percent of its budget. For 2005 total sales tax revenue increased by 5.2 percent, or more than $1 million.
With approximately 100 stores scheduled to open next year at the mall, City Treasurer Larry Flowers initially forecast a $2.1 million increase in sales taxes for 2006.
Thinking that projection was too conservative, members of the City Council's Finance and Administration Committee urged Flowers to increase the 2006 projection to a $2.8 million total sales tax increase.
"I'll tell you this time next month whether we're in trouble on that," said David Eagle, an accountant for Jonesboro's Finance Department.
Distributions of the countywide tax, with each entity's percentage share of the money in parentheses:
• City of Jonesboro (67.58), $739,418;
• Craighead County (20.48), $224,083;
• Bay (2.19), $23,975;
• Black Oak (0.35), $3,809;
• Bono (1.84), $20,139;
• Brookland (1.62), $17,741;
• Caraway (1.64), $17,968;
• Cash (0.36), $3,916;
• Egypt (0.12), $1,345;
• Lake City (2.38), $26,052; and
• Monette (1.44), $15,703.
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