Northwest Arkansas sales tax revenue up 8.89% in May reports

The four largest Northwest Arkansas cities reported cumulative sales tax revenue of $9.664 million in the May report, up 8.89% from the year-ago period. Bentonville saw the biggest gains in the May report, up 20.48% to $2.54 million.

Bentonville is off to a banner year of growth, according to Mayor Stephanie Orman, who said inflation is still helping fuel overall sales growth. Over the past five months of reports, the city has grown sales tax revenue by 8.22% to $9.669 million, a gain of nearly $735,000 from the same period last year.

Rogers also had a strong May report, with sales tax revenue totaling $2.234 million, up 7.5% from the year-ago period. Rogers has reported total revenue of nearly $11.599 million so far in 2023, up 8.33% compared with the same period in 2022. Mayor Greg Hines has said the city is in good shape with a balance of retail and entertainment options for consumers who seem to be shifting away from buying things to paying for experiences.

Fayetteville’s May report had revenue growth of 7.37% to $2.692 million. Year-to-date, the city’s sales tax revenue totals $13.083 million, up 9.49% from a year ago. Fayetteville has added $1.135 million in additional revenue in the first five months of 2023 compared to a year ago.

Springdale had near-flat results in the May report. The city’s revenue totaled nearly $2.008 million, up 0.14% from a year ago. So far in 2023, Springdale had sales tax revenue of $9.669 million, up 8.21% from a year ago.

The four cities saw cumulative revenue growth of 11.31% through the May report compared to a year ago. Total cumulative revenue grew to $45.612 million, adding more than $4.637 million to the cities’ coffers.

THE COLLECTIONS PICTURE
Following are the monthly reports from the four cities in the previous three years.

January
2023: $8.82 million
2022: $7.854 million
2021: $7.032 million

February
2023: $10.052 million
2022: $9.251 million
2021: $8.107 million

March
2023: $8.68 million
2022: $7.642 million
2021: $6.705 million

April
2023: $8.394 million
2022: $7.351 million
2021: $5.873 million

May
2023: $9.664 million
2022: $8.875 million
2021: $8.252 million