Craighead County, Jonesboro Sales Tax Collections See Bounce Back

Basketball season may be several months away, but the sales tax revenues for Jonesboro and Craighead County rebounded in August after seeing a small decrease in July.

The county’s one-cent sales tax brought in $1,558,831.02, while the city’s one-cent sales tax took in $1,411,079.44 – based on June 2015 numbers.

The city saw an increase of 7.86%, or $102,811.31, while the county’s numbers were up 7.35%, or $106,795.55, over the same period in 2014.

In July, the city sales tax collections took in $1,356,630.86 (down $12,800) while the Craighead County sales tax was down $13,800 bringing in $1,508,146.21.

So far this year, both Jonesboro and Craighead County have seen increases in sales tax revenue.

The Jonesboro one-cent sales tax has brought in $11 million so far this year, up $535,148.70 over the same time in 2014.

Meanwhile, Craighead County has collected $12.1 million so far this year, on pace to outgain the $17.5 million collected in 2014.

The county has also seen an increase in 47 of the past 68 months, after having a 31% drop in revenue in March 2010, numbers showed.

As for a reason for the increases, officials were perplexed.

Craighead County Treasurer Terry McNatt said he believes the increase was in part due to fuel prices dropping in the region, leading to people having more disposable income.

Most gas stations in Jonesboro were selling fuel in the $2 a gallon range Tuesday, with oil prices falling to nearly $40 a barrel, McNatt said.

Another part of the equation was a rainy summer that forced a lot of people inside and possibly to buy more items, McNatt said.

Mike Burroughs, an official in the Jonesboro city finance office, said another part of the equation involved people buying big ticket items like vehicles.

“The area is doing well while the state turnback figures are down,” Burroughs said of the numbers. “There were a lot of automobile sales (in June) due to the end of the season. It is also a big ticket item.”

The city did not host any major events in June, Burroughs said.

However, McNatt said the next two months will provide a key test on the revenue side of the equation.

The September 2015 report is expected to show information from the Arkansas Sales Tax holiday weekend, while the October 2015 report will show whether or not the Cal Ripken 10-year old World Series provided an economic boost for Jonesboro.

Another possible part of the puzzle for September involves two key ASU football games at home, McNatt said.

ASU hosts Missouri on Sept. 12 in Jonesboro and faces Missouri State at home a week later.