Sales tax collections across East Baton Rouge Parish rose 0.5% in November to $14.2 million, compared to the same month in 2013, putting year-to-date 2014 collections on pace to surpass the 2013 total.
Of the $14.2 million total in November, $7.9 million was collected on sales made inside Baton Rouge city limits, while $6.3 million came from sales in the unincorporated portions of the parish, according to the latest monthly report from the city-parish Finance Department. Collections inside the city limits were up 5.7% compared to November 2013, while collections in unincorporated areas were down 5.4%.
Taxes gathered on vehicle sales, which are usually more volatile from month to month than collections on non-vehicle sales, were down nearly 2% in November, the report shows. Vehicle sales tax collections accounted for just over $1 million of the monthly total. The decline in November followed double-digit percentage increases in September and October, when collections on vehicle sales were up 16.4% and 12.6%, respectively.
Total year-to-date sales tax collections in 2014 through November stood at $162.7 million. That’s 3% more than the $157.8 million collected through November in 2013. Even if the December figures come in well below the December 2013 tally in next month’s report, 2014 should wind up being a better year than 2013 for local sales tax collections. The 2013 total collections were $172.8 million, only about $10.1 million more than collections through November in 2014. February was the last month in which total collections were below the $14 million mark.
The December sales tax report will be released in the middle of next month. Check out the complete November sales tax collections report. —Steve Sanoski
