Purchases of cars, trucks and SUVs in January continued to drive an increase in combined sales tax collections for Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, the latest data from the city-parish Finance Department show.
Combined vehicle tax collections rose about 37% in January to an estimated $1.7 million, up from roughly $1.3 million for the same month one year ago. Meanwhile, sales tax collections for both the city and parish in January rose nearly 14% to $14.7 million, up from $12.9 million in January 2016.
Collectively, sales and vehicle tax collections for both the city and parish rose about 16% to an estimated $16.5 million—about $2.2 million more than the amount collected for the same month in 2016.
Vehicle and sales tax collections have grown significantly in the months following the August flood, which forced residents to rebuild and replace lost household items and automobiles. Combined collections for 2016 grew about 5.6%, boosted in part by the post-flood surge.
Collections within city limits continued to skyrocket, with combined collections rising roughly 19% for the month to $9.3 million, up from $7.8 million in January 2016. Roughly $7.1 million in sales and vehicle taxes was collected outside city limits.
