After two months of year-over-year gains, recurring city-parish sales and use tax collections declined last month.
Collections for the city and parish combined (less vehicle taxes) totaled $14.8 million in August, according to the latest figures from the city-parish finance department, a 3.4% drop from the same time last year. It’s also nearly $100,000 less than in July.
The city-parish has accumulated more than $118 million in collections during the first eight months of the year—a nearly 3% drop over the same period last year.
Sales tax collections were down both inside and outside the city limits, though more so outside. While the city of Baton Rouge saw just a 0.56% decrease in collections last month compared to 2019, the parish saw a nearly 6.9% drop.
Car sales have also cooled off after posting double-digit percentage growth figures over the summer. Vehicle tax collections in the parish were up 5.3% in August compared to last year, while the collections were up 5.1% in the city.
Year-to-date, the city-parish combined tax collections are down 2.6%. Read the full report.
