Northwest Arkansas sales tax revenue up 25% in April report

Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale had combined sales tax revenue of $7.351 million in the April report, up 25.17% from a year ago. However, revenue was down 3.96% from the month before and was the lowest overall revenue reported in 2022.

April revenue reflected in the report is generated from a 1% local sales tax each city charged for goods and services in February.

Bentonville saw a 31.03% jump in sales tax revenue reported this month compared to a year ago, Springdale had a 37.8% jump revenue, Rogers’ sales tax rose 21.39% and Fayetteville posted a 15.48% jump in revenue.

The region has seen a double-digit revenue increase each month reported in 2022 and part of that increase is tied to inflationary prices. Economists with Wells Fargo Securities have said consumers are still spending but higher fuel and food costs on top of higher interest rates on credit cards will likely reduce spending by the second half of this year.

Through the first four reporting months of 2022 Rogers has revenue of $8.452 million, 17% from the same period last year. Rogers has added $1.24 million more to the city coffers this year through the April report. To reach the budgeted $22.5 million for the year, Rogers must average $1.875 million each month. While the reports in January and February were significantly more than the average needed, the past two months have been slightly less than the average.

Springdale is also off to a strong start in 2022 with revenue reported through April at $6.93 million, up 22.4% from the same period last year The city has added $1.3 million more to coffers during the period. Bentonville has reported $7.275 million in sales tax revenue through the first four months of 2022 with strong year-over-year growth each month. Population growth and Walmart corporate employees returning to the office have each been catalysts for the added sales tax gains in recent months.

Fayetteville has seen strong revenue growth this year. Through the April report, revenue totaled $9.441 million, up 7.6% year over year. The city has had 11 straight months with more than $2 million reported in sales tax revenue, the longest stretch in the city’s history.

Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan has budgeted for up to 7% sales tax growth this year and the city is slightly ahead of that forecast through the April report.