After months of experiencing double-digit surges in sales and vehicle tax collections after the August flood, the city-parish posted only a 6% increase in its hauls in February, according to the latest statistics from the city-parish finance department.
The local government tallied nearly 16% more in combined sales and vehicle tax collections in January over the same month one year, the finance department’s sales tax report says. Much of that surge, as in previous months, was attributed to the purchase of cars, trucks and SUVs since the flood.
But the finance department’s latest report says the city-parish collected roughly $15.4 million from purchases of autos and other goods in February, only a 6% increase over the month last year when $14.5 million was collected.
In February, vehicle tax collections for the city and parish totaled $1.3 million, a 9.8% increase over the same month a year ago. In January, the combined collections were up 37.1% year over year.
The parish collected roughly $657,000 from vehicle taxes in February, up from about $587,000 for the month one year ago. The city, meanwhile, collected 7.7%, or roughly $649,000, more in vehicle taxes. For the same month year ago, the city collected $602,000.
As for sales taxes, combined collections increased 5.6% from $13.3 million to $14.1 million. The city collected $8.1 million in February, up about 8.7% from $7.4 million for the month in 2016. The parish saw its sales tax collections rise about 1.7% from approximately $5.9 million to roughly $6 million.
