Sand Springs, Like Other Area Cities, Sees Drop In Sales Tax Revenue

NewsOn6.com

SAND SPRINGS, OK -- City of Sand Springs sales tax revenue took another significant hit in October when compared to the previous year.

In a news release Tuesday, Sand Springs officials say the city's disbursement from the Oklahoma Tax Commission for October totaled $765,006, down 11 percent from the same month in 2008.

Since the start of the 2010 fiscal year in July, sales tax disbursements have been down 7.2 percent from the previous year.

The September disbursement reflects sales in the last half of August and the first half of September.

Sand Springs collects a 3.5-cent sales tax for every dollar of goods purchased from businesses within the city limits.

The reduced collections are putting a pinch on Sand Springs' budget.

"Although the drop in sales taxes is somewhat greater than anticipated, it is not completely unexpected. We will be making budget adjustments as the year goes on, but our strategy at this time is one of serious concern rather than one of panic," said city manager Douglas Enevoldsen.

In addition to sales tax declines, Sand Springs has experienced a 5.5 percent loss in water utility revenues through August due to the wet summer and changes in customer consumption patterns.

"On the revenue side of our ledger, it looks like the perfect storm. However, we have been able to significantly offset those revenue decreases thus far with reductions in spending and the use of available reserves," Enevoldsen said. "Our budget looks very challenging for the remainder of this fiscal year and throughout the next fiscal year. We are currently in a data gathering mode to truly determine where we're at and where we're likely to be going."

Other area communities also saw declines in their October sales tax checks.

Bixby received 10.7 percent less from the previous year.

Broken Arrow received 8.4 percent less from the previous year.

Owasso sales tax revenue was down 4.7 percent from the previous year.

Sapulpa received 4.3 percent less during the same period.

And, Jenks saw a drop of 2.7 percent in sales tax revenue from the previous year.

The only local community to see an increase was Glenpool. Glenpool experienced an increase in its October sales tax disbursement. Up 1.3 percent from the previous year.