East Baton Rouge Parish combined sales and vehicles tax collections began the year in the red, declining roughly 9.5% in January when compared to the same month last year, according to the latest report from the city-parish Finance Department.
The city-parish collected about $14.8 million in vehicle and sales taxes, down from $16.5 million in January 2016.
The Finance Department attributes the significant tax revenue drop to the continued recovery from the widespread August 2016 flooding.
Flood-affected residents were buying building materials and replacing vehicles and household goods months after the flooding, elevating tax collections for much of 2016.
But in the January of this year, the city-parish taxes collected just $1.3 million in taxes from the purchase of vehicles in both Baton Rouge and the unincorporated areas of the parish, a 27% decline from the $1.74 million collected last year.
Sales tax collections also were down, falling 7.7% to $13.6 million from $14.7 million in January last year.
The city-parish collected $86.6 million in combined vehicle and sales taxes over the course of last year.
