Van Buren sales tax revenue up in November

by David Bradford ([email protected]) 83 views 

November 2024 sales and use tax revenue for Van Buren totaled $734,865, up 2.1% over $719,808 in November 2023. However, year-to-date tax revenue for the Crawford County city is down by the same percentage.

The monthly gain is in line with a consistent, incremental annual increase for the city, as reported by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).

Tasked with collecting sales and use tax revenue, publishing the financial details, and remitting funds to Arkansas cities, DFA data indicates a revenue increase of 4.5% between 2022 and 2023, and an increase of 26.6% between 2020 and 2023.

For the first 11 reporting months of 2024, Van Buren sales tax revenue is $8.1 million, down 2.1% compared with $8.276 million in the same period of 2023.

Van Buren Mayor Joe Hurst said the money generated by the city’s 1.5% sales tax goes into the general fund, which is spent on all city services.

“We have a $20 million budget,” said Hurst. “We use every bit of that.”

The general fund is separate from the street fund, which uses revenue provided by Crawford County and the state. The street fund has largely recovered from a three-month loss of revenue in late 2023 and early 2024 due to what has been termed a “filing mistake” by the county following voter renewal of the countywide tax.

“It was definitely a shock when we heard the news, which amounted to around $1 million,” said Hurst. “The good news was we could plan for it. We knew it was coming and could budget for it. This year we could hit the ground running.”

Hurst said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the revenue prospects in 2025.

“We budget fairly conservatively. We plan for the worst, hope for the best,” he said.