Sales tax collections were strong both inside and outside of the Baton Rouge city limits in September, driving combined collections up 7.8% to roughly $15.5 million in September, compared to the same month last year.
According to the latest monthly report from the city-parish Finance Department, released today, collections inside the city limits totaled approximately $8.4 million during the month. That’s an increase of 9.1% over September 2013 collections of $7.7 million. Outside the city limits, roughly $7.1 million was collected in September, a rise of 6.3% over the $6.7 million collected last year.
Taxes collected on automobile sales are usually much more volatile month to month than those collected on general sales. The September report shows auto sales were particularly strong during the month and helped push up overall collections. Roughly $1.4 million of the total tax haul in September came from auto sales, which was the most of any month so far this year. Last year in September, just under $1.2 million was collected on auto sales, or about 16.4% less than this year.
Year to date, total sales tax collections, including those on vehicle sales, stood at $133.3 million at the end of September. That’s an increase of 3.1% over total collections of $129.2 million through September last year. See the complete report. —Steve SanoskiÂ
