Sales tax revenues are flat to down

June sales tax revenues in St. Landry Parish and Eunice are at best flat and mostly down in month-to-month and year-to-date comparisons.
The sales tax numbers are from a report by the St. Landry Parish School Board Sales Tax Division.
Eunice sales tax revenue in the first six months were up a scant $1,321 for a total of $2,669,440. The June 2015 six-month total was for Eunice collections was $2,670,761.
Eunice’s June sales tax collections rose 3.9 percent from May to June. In June, collections were $412,680, up $15,303.
But in June 2015 collections in Eunice were $425,084, which is $12,404 more than collected this June.
Despite a penny increase in the state sales tax, St. Landry Parish’s six-month total was $32,582,369, a 2.3 percent decrease from the first six months of 2015.
In a June to June comparison, parish sales were up 0.3 percent. June collections totaled $5,388,929, up $16,974 from June 2015.
A bright spot for the parish, is a 9.6 percent increase in collection from May to June. June’s total was $5,388,929 compared to 4,917,288 in May.
The parish sales tax total includes parish, school, solid waste, law enforcement and municipal taxes.
The sales tax rate in Eunice is 10.75 percent. Of that 5 percent is state, 3.55 percent is parish and 2.2 percent is city.
Unincorporated areas pay a 10.5 percent sales tax revenue, which includes 5 percent state and 5.5 percent parish rates.
On April 1, the state sales tax rate rose by 1 percent.